Lily and James, This is your son
by potter-shan-fan
Summary: COMPLETE AT LONG LAST! Lily and the Marauders read Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. I know others have done this, but i wanted to add my own one. This is my first fanfic, please R&R!
1. A book?

**A/NI have never written any chapter this long on fictionpress! Hope you all like this.**

James was actually trying to study. He really was. But flowing red hair from the other side of the library kept distracting him. It was Lily. He watched her out of the corner of his eye as she browsed through the books, selecting certain ones. 

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't concentrate on his charms essay. It was worse than when he was with Padfoot. He stopped pretending to do his work and sat there gazing at Lily. 

He sighed and took in every detail, from her flowing, perfect hair, to her shoes. He was snapped from his trance when Lily turned around to look directly at him. He immediately averted his gaze and looked down at his book. When he dared to look up again, he was startled to see Lily walking towards him. He stopped all pretences and watched her approach him uncertainly.

"Um … James," she asked when she had reached him.

"Yes Lily," he replied breathlessly.

"I was wondering – I mean, I found this book and…" She showed him a paperback book titled 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'. Frowning, James looked up from the book to stare into Lily's beautiful green eyes. "What's this?"

"I thought it might be someone you know, seeing as it's a Potter." Taking the book, James opened it to its first page. "Hang on," he said a little too loudly, "this is copyright of 1997!" he said more quietly. 

Lily's eyebrows shot up and she took the book back to look at the copyright herself. After a while she seemed to come to terms with the future book and asked, "Do you want to read it?"

"What, with you?"

"Well, duh!" James smiled and said yes. Together they left the room to go to a quieter place to read it. "Where should we go to read it Lils?" She looked at him a bit when he called her Lils, but shrugged.

"The common room?" suggested James.

"No," came the immediate reply. She didn't want the whole world to know they had a book from the future – or more specifically, one Gryffindor, Sirius Black! "Somewhere more private."

After thinking for a while, James hit his head with his hand and said, "Of course! Follow me!"

He ran up around the castle until he came to a stop on the seventh floor in front of a wall.

"James, wha-" she was cut short when she saw a door appear out of nowhere. James held the door open for Lily before going in himself. As she walked in, Lily twirled around to look at the entire room. It was amazing. There were beanbags and comfy chairs, a fireplace, carpeted floors, chandeliers and lamps and so much more. It was incredible.

"What is this place?"

"It's the room of requirement. It turns into whatever you need it to be," James replied.

"How did you find this place?"

"Oh, Sirius and I discovered it second year when we were hiding the … uh … so the book!" James changed the subject obviously. Lily looked at him for a bit, but her interest was completely on the book she had found. 

"Who do you think it is about?"

"Well, 1997, could be anyone. Though They are probably really young now, or not born at all. Hey, It could be my kid!" James said excitedly. "He even looks like me!" He added, looking at the unmoving picture on the cover. Lily laughed at the idea of James as a father, but didn't say anything.

James loved it when she laughed, which she hardly ever did in front of him. She was usually telling him off or yelling at him.

"So who should read first?" asked Lily. "I think you should 'cause it seems to be about your family."

"Nah, you found it, so go ahead," said James, and he made himself comfortable on a beanbag. Lily sat next to him on a chair.

**The Boy who lived**

"What? Who's the boy who –"

"Shhh James, we'll find out!

**Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four Privet Drive were proud to say they were perfectly normal thank you very much.**

"Ha, they must be muggles," snorted James, then he went quiet at the look Lily gave him.

**They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense**

James was about to make a comment but at the last moment decided to keep it to himself.

**Mr. Dursley was the director of a firm called Grunnings,**

James couldn't help himself. "Grunning? What a weird name," he blurted out. Lily smiled and read on.

**Which made drills**

"Drills?"

"Umm … a long pointed piece of metal in a machine used to make hole in wood, metal and other stuff."

"Oh … but what's the point in that?"

"To build things like houses, James. Muggles don't have magic to build stuff for them." James shrugged.

**He was a big beefy man with hardly and neck, although he did have a very large moustache. Mrs. Dursley was thin and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck.**

"Not very similar, are they Lils. Lily?" he added. Lily had a distant look on her face. "What? Oh, never mind."

**Which came in very useful as she spent much of her time craning over garden fences spying on neighbours.**

"Nothing better to do?"

**The Dursleys had a small son called Dudley**

"Wow, and I thought Sirius's name was bad! Poor kid. Dudley Dursley." Lily laughed again.

**and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere. The Dursleys had everything they wanted,**

"Spoilt gits."

**but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it;**

"Now that is interesting. Wonder what it is!" 

"If you stopped interrupting we would know already."

"And if you had just continued instead of telling me not to interrupt, we would know as well!" James said smugly. Lily made a face at him and continued reading.

**they didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Potters.**

"What's wrong with Potters then, eh?" James yelled angrily.

"Nothing, nothing, you are all fine!" Lily replied.

"Exactly! So those Dursleys can go –"

"James!"

"Sorry Lily." He smiled sweetly for her to continue.

**Mrs. Potter was Mrs. Dursleys sister,**

"But I don't have a sister," said James.

"Firstly, we don't know that you are Mr. Potter, and the book said _Mrs._ Potter's sister, not Mr. Potter!"

**but they hadn't met for several years;**

"Just like me and Petunia will probably be. She hates me. We can't stand each other."

**in fact, Mrs. Dursley pretended she didn't have a sister,**

"That would be fine by me too," noted Lily.

"**because her sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unDursleyish"**

James snorted at the made-up word. "Not so sure I like that word. I don't like churn, particular or maneuver either," James added randomly.

**as it was possible to be. The Dursleys shuddered to think what the neighbours would say if the Potters arrived on the street.**

"Again with the Potters! What is wrong with Potters?" James asked, more to the book than to Lily.

**The Dursleys knew the Potters had a small son too, but they had never even seen him, this boy was another good reason for keeping the Potters away; they didn't want Dudley mixing with a child like that.**

"Bet you my son is better than their brat Dudly!" 

"James! We don't even know that it's your son!"

"It is! I just know it is!" Lily sighed and continued.

**When Mr. and Mrs. Dursley woke up on the Dull grey Tuesday our story starts, there was nothing about the cloudy sky outside to suggest that strange and mysterious things would soon be happening all over the country.**

" This ought to be good. I bet it's gonna be something to do with wizards!" said James.

"and witches," added Lily.

"and witches," conceded James.

**Mr. Dursley hummed as he picked out his most boring tie**

James snorted.

**for work and Mrs. Dursley gossiped away happily as she wrestled a screaming Dudley into his highchair.**

"Seems like a great kid," James said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Sounds like a horrible child!" said Lily.

**None of them noticed a large tawny owl flutter past the window.**

"Owl post" they both murmured.

**At half-past eight Mr. Dursley picked up his briefcase, pecked Mrs. Dursley on the cheek and tried to kiss Dudley goodbye but missed, because Dudley was now having a temper tantrum and throwing his cereal at the walls.**

"He's definitely a brat," commented James matter-of-factly. Lily nodded her agreement.

"**Little tyke," chortled Mr. Dursley as he left the house. He got into his dart and backed out of number fours drive.**

**It was on the corner of the street that he noticed the first sign of something peculiar –**

"Finally!" 

"James! Enough with the interrupting!"

**a cat reading a map. **

"Must have something to do with our world," said James wisely

**For a second, Mr. Dursley didn't realize what he had seen – then he jerked his head around to look again.**

"Probably breaking a sweat to move his fat head," retorted James, who thoroughly disliked this Dursley man for disliking the Potters. Lily gave him one of the "looks" and he went quiet.

**There was a tabby cat standing on the corner of Privet drive, but there wasn't a map in sight.**

"well, of course not."

**What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Mr. Dursley blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back.**

"that would be creee-py!" said James. Then he exclaimed, "Hey, I bet that the cat is McGonagall. She transforms into a cat!" 

"You know, you might actually be right about something for once," mused Lily.

"Ouch. That hurt Lils, it really did."

**As Mr. Dursley drove around the corner, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Privet Drive-**

"Hah, bet he thinks he's going nuts. Cats can't read signs. At least not real cats."

**no **_**looking**_** at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs.**

James had a dumbstruck look on his face. That was almost word for word.

**Mr. Dursley gave himself a shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove towards town he thought of nothing except the big order of drills he was hoping to get that day.**

"What an exciting man!"

**But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else.**

"Oh, no, what a tragedy!"

**As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in cloaks**

"What's weird 'bout that?"

"To muggles it's weird!"

"Not as weird as a wizard trying to dress like a muggle," chortled James.

"True, true,"

**He supposed this was some new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a handful of these weirdoes close by.**

"I seriously don't like this guy Lils!"

"Neither do I."

**They were whispering excitedly about something**

"Wonder what happened?"

"Well, let me get more than one sentence out and maybe we can find out!"

**Mr. Dursley was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't exactly young at all; why that man had to be older than he was and wearing an emerald green cloak! The nerve of him! But then it struck Dursley that this was probably some silly stunt – These people were obviously collecting for something..**

"Don't mean to be dense, Lils, but collecting is what, exactly?"

" Umm … going around asking for money and collecting it in a tin. It's usually for charities." James nodded his understanding.

**yes that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Mr Dursley arrived into the Grunnings car park, his mind was back on Drills.**

"Good God, man, think of something other than drills!"

**Mr. Dursley sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might've found it harder to concentrate on Drills that morning.**

"That would be horrible!"

_**He **_**didn't see the owls swooping past in broad daylight,**

"Why is that happening? Wizards are usually more careful about that," pondered Lily.

"You know Lily, you look so … so pretty when you do that."

"Do what?" asked Lily, blushing slightly.

"Think about stuff so seriously. It's really cute."

"Um … thanks James. Back to the book now."

"If you say so, he said, still looking at her.

**though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open mouthed as owl after owl sped overhead.**

"Must be important for them to be so careless," commented Lily, noticing James giving her that same loving look as before.

**Most of them had never even seen an owl at night-time. Mr. Dursley however, had a perfectly normal, owl free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more.**

"Seems like a nice man, doesn't he?" said Lily, trying to stop James from staring at her.

"Mmhmm," he replied.

**He was in a very good mood until lunch-time when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakers opposite. He'd forgotten all about people in cloaks until he passed a group of them next to the bakers. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why but hey made him uneasy. This lot were whispering excitedly too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on the way back past him that that he caught a few words of what they were saying**

"**The potters, that's right, that's what I heard-"**

'**-yes their son Harry-'**

At this point James's attention snapped back to the book. "I told you it was my son!"

"Well it could be any Potter," reasoned Lily.

"I don't have any brothers or sisters, and there aren't very many other Potters who are wizards that I know. So who's kid could he –Harry right?" he added, checking the book, "Be?"

"Fine James, fine!"

**Mr, Dursley stopped dead.**

"Brilliant, he's dead!" 

"That's just a figure of speech, he's not really dead."

"I know, but can't a guy have hope?" Lily laughed at that.

**Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it. He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, and seized his telephone.**

"Telephone?" he asked Lily.

"How do I explain this … muggles use it to … contact other muggles. They all have numbers, and by dialing them you can connect to another telephone."

"Sounds damn complicated to me. Why don't they just use the fire place like normal people do?"

"It IS normal for muggles. No muggle sticks their head into a fire … they don't have floo powder," Lily explained in a voice commonly used when explaining something to a little child.

**And had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his moustache thinking..**

"This oaf can think?" James asked incredulously.

**No, he was being stupid**

"That can't be too hard. I'm surprised that he only noticed now," said Lily.

**Potter wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Potter who had a son called Harry.**

James snorted. "Well neither of us know any other Potters!"

**Come to think of it he wasn't even sure his nephew **_**was**_** called Harry. He'd never even seen the boy**

"What kind of man doesn't know what his nephew is named?" demanded James.

"Well, they pretend they don't exist, so … At least he knows it's a boy." James laughed a little and urged Lily to continue.

**It might've been Harvey. Or Harold. There was no point in worrying Mrs. Dursley. She always got so upset at any mention of her sister. He didn't blame her – if**_**he'd**_** had a sister like that .. **

"What's that supposed to mean? My L- uh, wife is not some weirdo!" James corrected himself, but Lily had still noticed. She smiled at James shyly and read on.

**but all the same, those people in cloaks..**

"Are completely, 100 normal."

**He found it a lot harder to concentrate on Drills that morning**

"Oh, the humanity of it all!"

**And when he'd left the building at five o clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.**

"Probably nearly crushed the poor man. At least he should be on the ground."

"**Sorry," He grunted as the tiny man stumbled and almost fell.**

"Ah well, almost."

**It was a few seconds before Mr. Dursley realized that the man was wearing a violet cloak. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground.**

"Strange."

**On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that mad passersby stare: "don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice! For You-know-who has gone at last!**

James stared at the book. You-Know-How, Voldemort, was gone?

"Wh- what does he mean … _gone?_ Like, gone, gone?" asked James.

"I – I think so," replied Lily, who was equally stunned.

"How d'you think it happened?"

"Not sure … but it would explain all the owls." James nodded.

"Hey, they mentioned my son, Harry! Think he had a hand in it?"

"But it said he's just a small child. There's no way."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," sighed James looking disappointed.

**Even muggles like yourself should be celebrating this happy, happy day!**

**And the old man hugged him around the middle and walked off.**

**Mr. Dursley stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a stranger. He also thought he had been called a Muggle.**

"You were," gasped James between fits of laughter.

**Whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never done before**

"What's wrong with imagining things? I do it all the time in Binn's classes. And almost every other class too," James added as an afterthought. 

**As He pulled into the driveway of number four, the first thing he noticed saw – and it didn't improve his mood – was the tabby cat he'd spotted that morning.**

"McGonagall's a tabby cat, isn't she?"

"Yes James, she is."

**It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one; it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"And she has markings around her eyes, right?" Lily nodded her reply.

"Bet you a galleon that it's McGonagall!" said James.

"I'm not going to take that bet. It's obviously her!"

"Aw, Sirius would've taken it. Hey, he should be here. He'd want to know about his godson!"

"No James … wait, his godson?"

"Well, he's obviously going to be my child's godfather! Don't read without me, I'll be right back." With that he ran out of the room to find his best friend.

Around ten minutes later he returned with Sirius and Remus.

"Evans!" yelled Sirius in delight.

"Hello Black," she replied rather stiffly. "Hi Remus," she said much more sweetly.

"Hello," he replied.

"Where's Pettigrew?" asked Lily.

"I went to the common room and only these two were there, and I couldn't be bothered to find anyone else," answered James with a shrug.

"So what's this big surprise, Prongs? What's this big thing you couldn't tell us about in the common room?"

"This, yelled James, tossing the book to Sirius, despite the look on Lily's face as they lost the page they were on.

"Wow, Prongs, this kid's got your last name," said Sirius.

"And he looks just like you … but with some differences," added Remus.

"Yeah, his eyes seem to be … green," said Sirius.

"Whatever. We've just read part of the first chapter, so Lily'll fill you in quickly." Lily glared at James, then proceeded to tell them the story in as much detail as possibly.

"This Dursley fellow sounds like a right piece of work," commented Sirius.

"He is!" replied Lily.

"Go on then Lily, read the rest of the chapter," urged Remus.

**it had the same markings around its eyes.**

"Oh yeah, Padfoot," said James.

"What?"

"I bet you one galleon that the cat is McGonagall!"

"Done," said Sirius.

"See Lily, he took the bet." Lily made another face at James and continued to read.

'**Shoo!' Mr Dursley said loudly.**

"That won't work."

**The cat didn't move.**

"Told you."

**Was this normal cat behaviour, Mr. Dursley wondered?**

"No, but then this isn't a normal cat, is it?" said Sirius.

"Nope."

"I prefer dogs anyway." At this the three boys shared a laugh. Lily looked at them curiously. 

"What's so funny?"

"Nothing Lily, keep reading," replied Remus.

**Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his wife.**

**Mrs. Dursley had had a nice, normal day. She told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her daughter and how Dudley had learnt a new word (Shan't).**

"Who cares about shan't? That's not even a proper word, it's shall not," snorted Sirius.

"Yeah," agreed James.

**Mr. Dursley tried to act normally. When Dudley had been put to bed, he went into the living-room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:**

**"And finally, bird-watchers everywhere have reported that the nation's owls have been behaving very unusually today. Although owls normally hunt at night and are hardly ever seen in daylight,**

"Why is that?" asked James.

"Who cares?" asked Sirius.

"Good point Padfoot," replied James.

"Why thank you, Prongs!"

"You're most welcome," replied James in a mock-polite voice.

**there have been hundreds of sightings of these birds flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the owls have suddenly changed their sleeping pattern." The news reader allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of owls tonight, Jim?"**

**"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the owls that have been acting oddly today. Viewers as far apart as Kent, Yorkshire and Dundee**

"There's a place called Dundee?" chortled James.

"Apparently," said Sirius.

**have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain that I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars!**

"Oh, we did that once, didn't we Padfoot?" asked James.

"Well, we tried, but I don't think it worked out right. They didn't fly that high."

"Guess we'll have to keep trying 'till we get it right then," said James cheerfully.

"It's even harder to read now with both of them together!" moaned Lily.

"Well, that's why I usually don't read with them," said Remus thoughtfully, "but I guess this is a special case."

**Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early**- **It's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."**

**Mr. Dursley sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Potters..**

"Cause we're all so great," commented James.

"Right you are, Prongs!"

**Mrs. Dursley came into the living-room carrying two cups of tea. It was no good.**

"What, the tea?" asked Sirius, laughing. 

**He'd have to say something to her. He cleared his throat nervously.**

"Be brave, soldier," said Remus sarcastically.

"**Err - Petunia,"**

"Oh dear God!" exclaimed Lily.

"What – what's wrong Lily?" asked James worriedly.

"It –She – Petunia … But that means that we … but I can't have ma –"

"You aren't making any sense, Lily," said James softly, worry obvious in his voice.

"It's … Petunia … that's my sister! She's going out with this great lump of a man called Vernon Dursley … She must've married him!"

A massive grin spread across James's face. "But that means that we are –"

"Married," finished Lily with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

"Wow!" yelled James, hugging Lily and high-fiving Sirius and Remus.

"Can't believe you marry this idiot, Lily," said Sirius. Lily smiled slightly.

"I – I guess you aren't _that_ bad …" said Lily slowly.

"Wait! They mentioned something else … Oh my God Lily, we have a son!" Shock was eminent on her face as Lily recalled that part of the chapter.

"We have a son named Harry!"

"Or Harold or Harvey … " said Lily drily, and still disbelievingly. 

"Nah, I would never name our child Harold. Terrible name. Sounds like some 50-year-old." Lily laughed, but stopped as James went to sit beside her on the sofa. Lily flinched a bit at his touch, but reluctantly relaxed.

"**Dear - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"**

**As he expected, Mrs. Dursley looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended she didn't have a sister.**

"I'm perfectly fine with pretending Petunia doesn't exist," huffed Lily. James put a comforting arm around her as she continued to read.

**"No," she said sharply. "Why?""Funny stuff on the news," Mr. Dursley mumbled. "Owls.. shooting stars.. and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..quot;"So?" snapped Mrs. Dursley."Well, I just thought.. maybe .. it was something to do with .. you know .. her lot."**

"Our lot?" asked Sirius angrily.

"Sirius, the book can't hear you."

"So what Remus? I can still be mad at it!"

**Mrs. Dursley sipped her tea through pursed lips. Mr. Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he'd heard the name 'Potter'.**

"the name alone will frighten most," said Sirius. "I live with 'em, terrifying lot!"

"Thanks a lot, you ungrateful git!" said James.

"Just kiddin', Prongs! You know how grateful I am and how much I like your folks."

"yeah, yeah. And it seems they love you more then they like me as well."

"Well, it's not my fault I'm so loveable!" said Sirius cheekily.

"Hold on a minute. You two live together?"

"Yeah. I ran away from that horrid place I used to call a home. James's folks pretty much adopted me."

"That's nice. But why'd you run away."

"well, if you came from my family … a seriously long line of Slytherins, then you'd run away too," Sirius said gravely. "Anyway, Evans, back to the book!"

**He decided he didn't dare.**

"Coward," James, Sirius and Remus said simultaneously.

**Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their son - he'd be about Dudley's age now wouldn't he?""I suppose so," said Mrs. Dursley stiffly."What's his name again? Howard isn't it?"**

"no, my – our son's name is Harry, idiot. Says so on the cover."

**"Harry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."**

"Harry is a perfectly fine name!" said Lily defensively. James smiled at her.

"**Oh, yes," said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Mrs. Dursley was in the bathroom, Mr. Dursley crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there. It was staring down Privet Drive as though it was waiting for something. Was he imagining things?**

"Thought he didn't approve," said James.

**Could all this have anything to do with the Potters?**

"Yes, it does," answered Sirius.

**If it did .. if it got out that they were related to a pair of - well,**

"Come on, say it! Say wizards!" dared James.

**he didn't think he could bear it.**

"Well, Prongs," said Sirius fairly, " I wouldn't want to be related to you either."

James threw one of the pillows on the sofa at Sirius. It hit him right in the face.

"Oh you'll pay for that, Potter."

"What're you gonna do, Black?"

Within seconds they were both on the ground, tumbling around and making a lot of noise.

The other two laughed hysterically, until Lily calmed down enough to bind them both with a charm. A shocked look crossed James's face.

"Lily, you'd do this to your own husband?" he asked, trying to sound hurt.

"Well, we aren't married just yet, James Potter!" 

"Technicalities … we're pretty much married. It counts if you know in the future that it's going to happen!"

Lily laughed again and continued the book, not untying either of them.

**The Dursleys got into bed. Mrs. Dursley fell asleep quickly but**

"Lily!" pleaded James, rolling around on the floor.

**Mr. Dursley lay awake, turning it all over in his mind.**

Lily continued to read, ignoring James and Sirius.

**His last, comforting thought before he fell asleep was that**

"Lily, please! I have this huge itch on my back that's killing me!" pleaded Sirius.

**even if the Potters were involved,**

"Remus, you're our friend. Untie us!" said James.

"No, It's more peaceful like this."

"Some friend you are, Moony! I would never leave you or Prongs tied up like animals!"

**there was no reason for them to come near him and Mrs. Dursley**

"Bet that happens just because he thought it wouldn't," said Remus to Lily, completely ignoring the other two struggling to get free.

**The Potters knew very well what he and Petunia thought about them and**

"Lily, as your husband I am asking you to take this infernal rope off of m-" But his last words were lost as Lily silenced both him and Sirius with an unspoken charm. Not able to talk 

anymore, they started to thrash around like sharks and make as much noise as possible without their mouths.

**and their kind .. He couldn't see how he and Petunia could get mixed up in anything that might be going on. He yawned and turned over. It couldn't affect them ..How very wrong he was.**

Lily could see that Sirius and James were bursting to make a comment about what she had just read. Sighing, she asked, "Will you two keep quiet?" They looked at her as if to say that was never going to happen. 

Lily sighed again and continued, "Will you at least keep the talking to a minimum and not start fighting again?" They both nodded, and Lily lofted both charms from both of them.

"That's better."

"Yeah. Oh the book said they were wrong. HAH! So we get in their way."

"looks like it."

Lily rolled her eyes and continued to read.

**Mr. Dursley might have been drifting into an uneasy sleep, but the cat on the wall outside was showing no sign of sleepiness. It was sitting as still as a statue, its eyes fixed unblinkingly on the far corner of Privet Drive. **

"Told you its McGonagall!"

"It never said that Prongs!"

"Who else –" but he stopped at the evil eye Lily was giving him.

**It didn't so much as quiver when a car door slammed in the next street, nor when the two owls swooped overhead**.

**In fact, it was nearly midnight before the cat moved at all.** **A man appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you'd have thought he'd just popped out of the ground.**

They all laughed at the thought of someone popping out of the ground

**The cat's tail twitched and its eyes narrowed.** **Nothing like this man had been seen in Privet Drive. He was tall, thin and very old, judging by the silver of his hair and beard, which were both long enough to tuck into his belt.**

"Dumbledore!" exclaimed all three of the boys.

**He was wearing long robes, a purple cloak which swept the ground and high-heeled, buckled boots. His blue eyes were light, bright and sparkling behind half-moon spectacles and his nose was very long and crooked, as though it had been broken at least twice.**

"Probably has," James muttered

**This man's name was Albus Dumbledore.**

**Albus Dumbledore didn't seem to realise that he had just arrived in a street where everything from his name to his boots was unwelcome. He was busy rummaging in his cloak, looking for something. But he did seem to realise he was being watched, because he looked up suddenly at the cat, which was still staring at him from the other end of the street. For some reason, the sight of the cat seemed to amuse him. He chuckled and muttered, "I should have known."**

"Seeeee!"

**He had found what he was looking for in his inside pocket.** **It seemed to be a silver cigarette lighter.**

"A what?"

"Muggles use them to light these addictive, bad things called cigarettes in their mouths. They sort of start fires."

**He flicked it open, held it up in the air and clicked it. The nearest street lamp went out with a little pop.**

"Cool. I'll bet he designed that thing himself."

**He clicked it again - the next lamp flickered into darkness. Twelve times he clicked the Put-Outer,**

"Real creative names."

**until the only lights left in the whole street were two tiny pinpricks in the distance, which were the eyes of the cat watching him.** **If anyone looked out of their window now, even the beady-eyed Mrs. Dursley, they wouldn't be able to see anything that was happening down on the pavement. Dumbledore slipped the Put-Outer **b**ack inside his cloak and set off down the street towards number four, where he sat down on the wall next to the cat.** **He didn't look at it, but after a moment he spoke to it."Fancy seeing you here, Professor McGonagall."**

"Hah! Fork up the galleon, Padfoot!" yelled James in triumph. Sirius grudgingly parted with his galleon.

**He turned to smile at the tabby, but it had gone. Instead he was smiling at a rather severe looking woman who was wearing square glasses exactly the shape of the markings the cat had had around its eyes. She, too, was wearing a cloak, an emerald one. Her black hair was drawn into a tight bun. She looked distinctly ruffled.**

**"How did you know it was me?" she asked.**

**"My dear Professor, I've never seen a cat sit so stiffly."**

**"You'd be stiff too if you'd been sitting on a brick wall all day," said Professor McGonagall.**

"While she could have been celebrating with the rest of the wizarding world?" asked James.

**"All day? When you could have been celebrating?**

James looked stunned. "Word. For. Word!" cried Sirius, starting to laugh.

**I must have passed a dozen feasts and parties on my way here."Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily.**

**"Oh yes, everyone's celebrating all right," she said impatiently. "You'd think they'd be a bit more careful,**

"She's right," said Lily.

**but no - even the Muggles noticed something's going on. It was on their news." She jerked her head back at the Dursleys' dark living-room window. "I heard it. Flocks of owls .. shooting stars .. Well, they're not completely stupid. They were bound to notice something. Shooting stars down in Kent - I'll bet that was Dedalus Diggle.**

"Hey, he's the one who was in seventh when we were firsties, right?" asked James.

"Yeah, now we know who to ask to help us make shooting stars!"

**He never had much sense."**

"'Fraid that's true."

**You can't blame them," said Dumbledore gently. "We've had precious little to celebrate for eleven years."**

"Voldemort's been around for eleven years?"

"Seems like it."

**"I know that," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "But that's no reason to lose our heads. People are being downright careless, out on the streets in broad daylight, not even dressed in Muggle clothes swapping rumours."** "though I doubt it'd help."

**She threw a sharp, sideways glance at Dumbledore here, as though hoping he was going to tell her something, but he didn't, so she went on: "A fine thing it would be if, on the very day You-Know-Who seems to have disappeared at last, the Muggles found out about us all. I suppose he really has gone, Dumbledore?"**

**"It certainly seems so," said Dumbledore. "We have much to be thankful for. Would you care for a sherbet lemon?"**

"A what?" asked James.

**A what?"**

"Good God now I'm saying the same thing as McGonagall!"

"**A sherbet lemon. They're a kind of Muggle sweet I'm rather fond of."**

"Not the moment for Sherbert Lemons, is it?"

**"No, thank you," said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn't think this was the moment for sherbet lemons.**

"AGAIN!"

**"As I say, even if You-Know-Who has gone -"**

**"My dear Professor, surely a sensible person like your self can call him by his name? All this 'You-Know-Who' nonsense - for eleven years I have been trying to persuade people to call him by his proper name: Voldemort".Professor McGonagall flinched, but Dumbledore, who was un-sticking two sherbet lemons, seemed not to notice.**

**"It all gets so confusing if we keep saying 'You-Know-Who.' I have never seen any reason to be frightened of saying Voldemort's name."**

"I always call him Voldemort," announced James.

"Me too,"said Lily

"Me, three," said Remus

"Me four."

**"I know you haven't," said Professor McGonagall, sounding half-exasperated, half-admiring. "But you're different. Everyone knows you're the one You-Know - oh, all right, Voldemort -was frightened of"**

**"You flatter me," said Dumbledore calmly. "Voldemort had powers I will never have."**

"Yeah, well … that's only 'cause he's too bloody noble to use 'em!" called James.

**"Only because you're too - well - noble to use them."**

"Oh, come ON!" The others all laughed at this.

**"It's lucky it's dark. I haven't blushed so much since Madam Pomfrey told me she liked my new earmuffs."**

"Earmuffs?"

**Professor McGonagall shot a sharp look at Dumbledore and said, "The owls are nothing to the rumours that are flying around. You know what everyone's saying? About why he's disappeared?**

"Yeah, why _did _he disappear?" wondered Sirius.

**About what finally stopped him?"**

"It's got something to do with us, Lily! And our son!"

**It seemed that Professor McGonagall had reached the point she was most anxious to discuss, the real reason she had been waiting on a cold hard wall all day, for neither as a cat nor as a woman had she fixed Dumbledore with such a piercing stare as she did now.**

"Good thing it's dark then, 'cause that would be downright terrifying!" yelled Sirius.

**It was plain that whatever 'everyone' was saying, she was not going to believe it until Dumbledore told her it was true. Dumbledore, however, was choosing another sherbet lemon and did not answer.**

**"What they're saying," she pressed on, "is that last night Voldemort turned up in Godric's Hollow. He went to find the Potters.**

Lily and James shared worried looks. James hugged Lily close and she read on, a little shakily.

**The rumour is that Lily and James Potter**

"Well, at least we know that it is you and me," said James in a voice far quieter than his normal one.

**Are - are - that they're – dead**

Lily screamed. A look of pure horror was etched upon the faces of Sirius, James and Remus.

"Wha – the – that … this book could be wrong," stuttered James, trying to sound confident. The others clearly didn't believe him. It had been right about Lily's sister, and had gotten her husband's name right.

"So we're … we're going to … die?" Lily asked.

"Yeah. But, Lily, we stopped Voldemort! Just keep thinking that! _We stopped Voldemort!_" Lily smiled a bit at the thought. 

"But what about Harry? What about our son?"

"OH, you think we'll leave him to die? We'll take him in. I am his godfather, after all," said Sirius. This book was bad news.

"Umm … should we – should we keep reading?" asked Remus tentatively. James and Lily nodded gravely. "Go 'head Lils."

**Dumbledore bowed his head. Professor McGonagall gasped.**

**"Lily and James .. I can't believe it .. I didn't want to believe it .. Oh, Albus ..quot;**

"I didn't think she cared that much about you, Prongs, said Sirius trying to lighten the mood. It worked a bit.

**Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. "I know .. I know ..quot; he said heavily.**

**Professor McGonagall's voice trembled as she went on. "That's not all. They're saying he tried to kill the Potter's son, Harry.**

"NO!" roared James. "Not my son! It's bad enough that he killed my wife, but now he goes for my son?"

"Easy, Prongs," soothed Remus, "He _tried._ Harry is alive. J.K Rowling wouldn't have titled it after him if he's dead,"

**"But - he couldn't. He couldn't kill that little boy.**

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and James seemed to shrink in his seat.

**No one knows why, or how, but they're saying that when he couldn't kill Harry Potter, Voldemort's power somehow broke - and that's why he's gone."**

"Our son, killed Voldemort?" Lily said, shocked

"That is so cool, Prongs! Your son will probably be famous for that. He destroyed Voldemort!"

"Thanks, Paddy."

"He's strong … Just like you guys." James and Lily beamed.

**Dumbledore nodded glumly."It's - it's true?" faltered Professor McGonagall. "After all he's done .. all the people he's killed .. he couldn't kill a little boy? It's just astounding ..of all the things to stop him .. but how in the name of heaven did Harry survive?"**

"That's what I want to know" Remus muttered

**We can only guess," said Dumbledore. "We may never know."**

"Yeah, but Dumbledore's guesses are almost always right!"

**Professor McGonagall pulled out a lace handkerchief and dabbed at her eyes beneath her spectacles. Dumbledore gave a great sniff as he took out a watch from his pocket and examined it. It was a very odd watch. It had twelve hands but no numbers; instead, little planets were moving around the edge. It must have made sense to Dumbledore, though, because he put it back in his pocket and said, "Hagrid's late. I suppose it was he who told you I'd be here, by the way?"**

**"Yes," said Professor McGonagall. "And I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you're here, of all places?"**

**"I've come to bring Harry to his aunt and uncle.**

"No! Not Petunia!"

"What about me? I'm his Godfather!"

"You know it could be Remus or Pettigrew!" said Lily.

"Nah, it's gonna be Sirius. NO offence, Moony, mate, but it has to be Padfoot." Remus didn't seem to mind. He understood completely.

"but if we had had another kid, you'd be the godfather." Remus smiled.

**They're the only family he has left now."**

"**You don't mean - you can't mean the people who live here?" cried Professor McGonagall, jumping to her feet and pointing at number four. "Dumbledore - you can't."**

"Yes, stop it Professor! Stop Dumbledore!"

**I've been watching them all day. You couldn't find two people who are less like us. And they've got this son - I saw him kicking his mother all the way up the street, screaming for sweets.**

"Brat" they all muttered

**Harry Potter come and live here!"**

"My son's too good for them!" yelled Lily.

**"It's the best place for him," said Dumbledore firmly. "His aunt and uncle will be able to explain everything to him when he's older. I've written them a letter."**

"A letter? You think you can explain all this in a letter?" James asked incredulously

**A letter?" repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall. "Really Dumbledore, you think you can explain all this in a letter? **

James snorted "all right, that's just getting annoying now!" They all laughed a bit at that.

**These people will never understand him! He'll be famous - a legend - I wouldn't be surprised if today was known as Harry Potter Day in future - there will be books written about Harry -**

"There is a book … this one!"

**every child in our world will know his name!"**

**"Exactly," said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses. "It would be enough to turn any boy's head. Famous before he can walk and talk! Famous for something he won't even remember! Can't you see how much better off he'll be, growing up away from all that until he's ready to take it?"**

"Damn. I hate, but he's right, of course," said James.

**Professor McGonagall opened her mouth, changed her mind, swallowed and then said, "Yes - yes, you're right, of course.**

"Oh come on! Enough with this already! I'm just going to stop talking now!" yelled James.

"Finally!" said Lily and Remus simultaneously. They grinned at each other.

"Nah .. I changed my mind. Not talking isn't my style."

**But how is the boy getting here Dumbledore?"**

**She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it."**

"that would be awkward."

**Hagrid's bringing him."**

**You think it - wise - to trust Hagrid with something as important as this?"**

"I'd trust Hagrid with my life" James said softly

**"I would trust Hagrid with my life," said Dumbledore.**

"Right, that's just mad now. It's like James has a sixth sense with this book," said Remus.

"Well, maybe I'm more like them than you think!"

"Like old Minnie?" challenged Sirius. A horrified look crossed James's face.

**"I'm not saying his heart isn't in the right place," said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, "but you can't pretend he's not careless. He does tend to - what was that?" A low rumbling sound had broken the silence around them. It grew steadily louder as they looked up and down the street for some sign of a headlight; it swelled to a roar as they both looked up at the sky - and a huge motorbike fell out of the air and landed on the road in front of them.**

Sirius' mouth hung open.

"AWESOME! I get a flying motorbike!"

"You know, it could be someone other than you!" yelled Lily over the racket Sirius was making.

"It has to be me. I'm there saving my godson from these arses!"

**If the motorbike was huge, it was nothing to the man sitting astride it. He was almost twice as tall as a normal man and at least five times as wide.**

"Nope, you're out of luck mate. That can only be Hagrid!" Sirius looked crestfallen.

**He looked simply too big to be allowed, and so wild - long tangles of bushy black hair and beard hid most of his face, he had hands the size of dustbin lids and his feet in their leather boots were like baby dolphins. In his vast muscular arms he was holding a bundle of blankets. "Hagrid," said Dumbledore, sounding relieved. "At last. And where did you get that motorbike?"**

**"Borrowed it, Professor Dumbledore, sir," said the giant, climbing carefully off the motorbike as he spoke. "Young Sirius Black lent it me."**

"YES! THE BIKE IS MINE! I HAVE A FLYING MOTORBIII –" ND Sirius choked back his last word as James shot a silencing spell at him.

**I've got him, sir."**

**"No problems, were there?"**

**"No, sir - house was almost destroyed but I got him out all right before the Muggles started swarmin' around. He fell asleep as we were flyin' over Bristol."**

**Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall bent forward over the bundle of blankets. Inside, just visible, was a baby boy, fast asleep. Under a tuft of jet-black hair**

"my boy has the Potter hair Lily!"

**over his forehead they could see a curiously shaped cut, like a bolt of lightning.**

"Cool shape."

**"Is that where - ?" whispered Professor McGonagall.**

**"Yes," said Dumbledore. "He'll have that scar forever**

**"Couldn't you do something about it, Dumbledore?"**

**"Even if I could, I wouldn't. Scars can come in useful. I have one myself above my left knee which is a perfect map of the London Underground.**

"Think he really has that?" James asked

Remus just shrugged. Sirius danced around trying to draw attention to himself to get his voice back.

**Well - give him here, Hagrid - we'd better get this over with."**

**Dumbledore took Harry in his arms and turned towards the Dursleys' house.**

**"Could I - could I say goodbye to him, sir?" asked Hagrid.**

**He bent his great shaggy head over Harry and gave him what must have been a very scratchy, whiskery kiss.**

**Then, suddenly, Hagrid let out a howl like a wounded dog.**

"What's wrong with dogs?" Sirius wrote out the words with his wand. The others laughed, but didn't lift the charm.

"**Shhh!" hissed Professor McGonagall. "You'll wake the Muggles!"**

**"S-s-sorry," sobbed Hagrid, taking out a large spotted handkerchief and burying his face in it. "But I c-c-can't stand it - Lily an' James dead - an' poor little Harry off ter live with Muggles -"**

"Hagrid .. remind me to visit him again," whispered James.

"Yeah, we should all go and see him."

**"Yes, yes, it's all very sad, but get a grip on yourself, Hagrid, or we'll be found," Professor McGonagall whispered, patting Hagrid gingerly on the arm as Dumbledore stepped over the low garden wall and walked to the front door. He laid Harry gently on the doorstep, took a letter out of his cloak, tucked it inside Harry's blankets and then came back to the other two. For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid's shoulders shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore's eyes seemed to have gone out**..

**"Well," said Dumbledore finally, "that's that. We've no business staying here. We may as well go and join the celebrations."**

"**Yeah," said Hagrid in a very muffled voice. "I'll be takin' Sirius his bike back. G'night, Professor McGonagall - Professor Dumbledore, sir."**

"I wouldn't feel like celebrating with you guys dead," whispered Remus. Sirius looked like he really had something to say, so James lifted the charm.

"I … " but he couldn't seem to continue. Instead he sat quietly and waited for Lily to continue.

**Wiping his streaming eyes on his jacket sleeve, Hagrid swung himself on to the motorbike and kicked the engine into life; with a roar it rose into the air and off into the night.**

"I have to get that bike," said Sirius enthusiastically, brightening the mood.

**"I shall see you soon, I expect, Professor McGonagall," said Dumbledore, nodding to her. Professor McGonagall blew her nose in reply**.

**Dumbledore turned and walked back down the street. On the corner he stopped and took out the silver Put-Outer. He clicked it once and twelve balls of light sped back to their street lamps so that Privet Drive glowed suddenly orange and he could make out a tabby cat slinking around the corner at the other end of the street.**

**He could just see the bundle of blankets on the step of number four."Good luck, Harry," he murmured. He turned on his heel and with a swish of his cloak he was gone.**

"Dumbledore apparated. Why didn't McGonagall?" asked Sirius.

"Who knows," replied Remus.

**A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door**

"That horrible person will torture my poor boy!" said Lily, almost crying.

"Oh, if we find out that she does, I will kill her!" growled James.

**to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley ..**

"Git," mumbled Sirius.

**He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"**

"End of the chapter." Lily said. "You want to go next James?"

"Sure," he replied, and smiled at his wife-to-be.

**A/N thanks for reading this .. now R-E-V-I-E-W!**


	2. Sparks fly

**The Vanishing Glass**

"Bet this will be gooooood."

**Nearly ten years had passed since the Dursleys had woken up to find their nephew on the front step, **

"Wow, J.K Rowling sure skipped a lot of time," said Sirius.

"Yeah. That makes him 'bout eleven then, right?" asked James.

"Yes!" Lily exclaimed. "That means …"

"He should be getting his Hogwarts letter soon!" finished James.

**but Privet Drive had hardly changed at all. The sun rose on the same tidy front gardens and lit up the brass number four on the Dursleys' front door; it crept into their living room, which was almost exactly the same as it had been on the night when Mr. Dursley had seen that fateful news report about the owls. Only the photographs on the mantelpiece really showed how much time had passed. Ten years ago, there had been lots of pictures of what looked like a large pink beach ball**

"Hah! That must be their son!" shouted Sirius.

**wearing different-coloured bobble hats**

"Oh I hate those things!" said Lily.

**but Dudley Dursley was no longer a baby,** a**nd now the photographs showed a large, blond boy riding his first bicycle, on a roundabout at the fair, playing a computer game**

"Lily?"

"It's, well. The computer is another machine. It's really big and bulky. There's this screen. You can click on things, and write things and, ummm … you can play games on it .." at this point James and Sirius stopped listening.

"We should get one of them!"

"But it won't work at school," reminded Lily.

"Don't you know anything? Muggle things don't work in Hogwarts."

"Shame."

**with his father,** **being hugged and kissed by his mother.**

"Who would want that?" said Sirius, disgusted.

**The room held no sign at all that another boy lived in the house, too**

"Maybe he ran away then," hoped Remus.

"Or I came to save the day!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Hope so. I wouldn't want my worst enemy to have to live with Petunia!" said Lily. "Well, actually, she _is_ my worst enemy," she added as an afterthought.

**Yet Harry Potter was still there,**

"Damn," said Sirius.

"Some godfather you are, Sirius!"

**asleep at the moment, but not for long. His Aunt Petunia was awake, and it was her shrill voice which made the first noise of the day.**

"I'd hate to wake up to that every morning!"

**"Up! Get up! Now!"**

"Petunia! Be nicer to my son!" yelled Lily.

**Harry woke with a start. His aunt rapped on the door again."Up!" she screeched. Harry heard her walking towards the kitchen and then the sound of the frying pan being put on the cooker. He rolled on to his back and tried to remember the dream he had been having. It had been a good one. There had been a flying motorbike in it.**

"Woo-hoo! My motorbike!" Sirius cried

**He had a funny feeling he'd had the same dream before.**

"That, or it actually happened."

**His aunt was back outside the door**

**"Are you up yet?" she demanded.**

"Who would want to get up if it were to see her?"

**"Nearly," said Harry.**

**"Well, get a move on, I want you to look after the bacon. And don't you dare let it burn, I want everything perfect on Duddy's birthday."**

"Ohhh … Duddy .. masculine!"

Lily was upset, not amused. "She's making my ten-year-old son cook?"

**Harry groaned.**

**"What did you say?" his aunt snapped through the door."Nothing, nothing ..."Dudley's birthday - how could he have forgotten? **

"You didn't, you conveniently put it out of your mind" James said

**Harry got slowly out of bed and started looking for socks.** **He found a pair under his bed and, after pulling a spider off one of them, **

"Ew, what kind of living condition is that? I can't imagine Petunia letting spiders in her house! She's such a clean freak, even now!"

**put them on. Harry was used to spiders, because the cupboard under the stairs was full of them,**

"The cupboard under the stair?" James said in a quiet voice, which seemed deadly.

**and that was where he slept.**

"WHAT!" they all yelled.

"OH, I AM GOING TO MURDER THAT WOMAN!" screamed James in venom. "How DARE she make MY son sleep in a CUPBOARD!"

"WHAT IS HE DOING UNDER THERE?" Sirius roared at the same time.

"You'll have to get in line, James. I'm going to kill her first!" roared Lily, shocking the others.

When they all cooled down, after much yelling and swearing to kill Petunia, James started to read again.

**When he was dressed he went down the hall into the kitchen. The table was almost hidden beneath all Dudley's birthday presents.**

"How many did he get?" Sirius said.

**It looked as though Dudley had got the new computer he wanted, not to mention the second television and the racing bike.**

"A what and a what?" asked James.

"A television is like a box that shows actors, people who get paid to pretend they are someone else and act out stories, and they watch shows and movies on it." James seemed impressed by it.

"What was the other thing?" asked Sirius.

"A racing bike is something used for transport. Kids get exercise riding bikes around to get to places."

Sirius snorted. "Doubt that brat will use it much. A motorbike is better, anyway. And mine flies." he stated.

**Exactly why Dudley wanted a racing bike was a mystery to Harry, as Dudley was very fat and hated exercise - unless of course it involved punching somebody. Dudley's favorite punch-bag was Harry**

Steam seemed to be rising from James' head as he continued to read. "I definitely don't like these people!" he said through gritted teeth.

**but he couldn't often catch him. Harry didn't look it, but he was very fast.**

"Good," Lily sighed

**Perhaps it had something to do with living in a dark cupboard, but Harry had always been small and skinny for his age.**

"Nah, he gets that from his scrawny git of a father," joked Sirius. "Urgh, I was only kidding, mate," he added as James jumped on top of him. Lily bound them again, then released James to let him read.

**He looked even smaller and skinnier than he really was because all he had to wear were old clothes of Dudley's**

James took a deep breath to steady himself and control his rising anger.

"Can't even buy him clothes?"

**and Dudley was about four times bigger than he was.** **Harry had a thin face, knobbly knees, black hair** **and bright-green eyes.**

"So basically, the kid is James in miniature," commented Remus.

"With my eyes," beamed Lily.

"Uh, HELLO?" yelled Sirius. "Someone free me please?"

"No, I think it's more fun this way," joked James.

**He wore round glasses held together by a lot of Sellotape because of all the times Dudley had punched him on the nose.**

Sirius made an imitation of his animagus form as he growled at the book, and then at James to free him. . Remus gave his a look that said _Idiot, Lily doesn't know! _and he stopped.

**The only thing Harry liked about his appearance was a very thin scar on his forehead which was shaped like a bolt of lightning**

"Yeah, we already said it would look cool!"

"Free me already!" James looked at Lily, who nodded slightly, rolling her eyes, and James mumbled, "Relashio," and Sirius was free.

"Finally!" he shouted, hitting James on the head.

"Don't push me! I'll bind you again!" said James. 

Sirius pointed his wand, but within two seconds, it flew out of his hand and into Lily's.

"HAH!" yelled James, and continued to read.

**He had had it as long as he could remember and the first question he could ever remember asking his aunt was how he had got it.**

"She had better tell him the truth" Lily muttered

"**In the car crash when your parents died,"**

"WHAT? WE DID NOT!" Lily and James bellowed "AND YOU KNOW IT!" It was a good thing that the room of requirement was sound proof.

**she had said. "And don't ask questions."**

"He shouldn't if she's just going to tell him lies!"

"Can I get my wand back?" asked Sirius.

"NO!" yelled James and Lily.

**Don't ask questions - that was the first rule for a quiet life with the Dursleys.** **Uncle Vernon entered the kitchen as Harry was turning over the bacon.**

"**Comb your hair!" he barked, by way of a morning greeting**

"It just grows that way, idiot!" snapped James.

**About once a week, Uncle Vernon looked over the top of his newspaper and shouted that Harry needed a haircut. Harry must have had more haircuts than the rest of the boys in his class put together, but it made no difference, his hair simply grew that way - all over the place.**

"See?" James muttered.

**Harry was frying eggs**

"Evans, my wand, please?"

**by the time Dudley arrived in the kitchen with his mother. **

"Please?"

**Dudley looked a lot like Uncle Vernon. **

"Lily, please!" Lily was so surprised that he had called her by her name that she gave him his wand.

"Thank you!"

**He had a large, pink face, not muck neck, small, watery blue eyes and thick, blond hair that lay smoothly on his thick, fat head.**

"That sounds so … pig-like," commented Sirius. The others laughed. "I mean, he's even pink! I bet he would turn into a pig if he was an anim-" but he stopped short and slowly turned to look at Lily, his eyes wide.

She smiled and said, "Guys, I already know about the whole animagus thing!" They stared at her.

"H – how?" asked Sirius, bewildered.

"Well, first we figured – "

"We? Who's we?"

"Me and Alice," Lily shrugged. "Anyway, we found out that Remus was a werewolf - Don't give me that look. It's obvious. Every full moon he disappears! - Then we saw you all go with him. I know werewolves aren't dangerous to animals, so we guessed that you must have become animagi."

"Wow. You are too smart for your own good."

"Thanks. You know, at first I didn't really think you guys could pull it off. It's really hard to become one, and it takes an extraordinary wizard. But now I know that you actually did it."

"I might be mistaken, but did Evans, I mean Lily, just call us _extraordinary?_ Did she just pay us a _compliment?_" asked Sirius incredulously. 

"Yes, Paddy, she did!" grinned James.

"So what are your forms, then?"

"Why don't you take a guess?" challenged James.

"I'd say Black is a dog." They all laughed again. "And me?" asked James.

"A … stag." James stared at her. "How'd you know?"

"Well, that's your personality. Loyal, kind …" James beamed. "And frozen with fear when caught in the headlights." She burst out laughing. Even the wizards knew that muggle saying. "She's got you there, Prongs!" said Remus in between laughs.

Trying to get the attention off of himself, James started reading.

**Aunt Petunia often said that Dudley looked like a baby angel - Harry often said that Dudley looked like a pig in a wig.**

They all laughed at Harry's comment

"See? Harry agrees!"

**Harry put the plates of egg and bacon on the table, which was difficult as there wasn't much room. Dudley, meanwhile was counting his presents. **

"Can't believe that kid can count."

**His face fell.** **"Thirty-six,"**

"Thirty –six?" Remus repeated, shocked.

"Damn, that's a lot of presents," James said .

"How many d'you reckon they give Harry on his birthday?"

"None," said Lily angrily.

**he said, looking up at his mother and father. "That's two less than last year."**

"And he wants _more?_" Sirius asked, incredulous.

"**Darling, you haven't counted Auntie Marge's present, see, it's here under this big one from Mummy and Daddy."**

"What eleven-year-old calls his parents _Mummy and Daddy?" _asked James.

"I haven't called them that since I was five!" said Lily, laughing.

"Neither have I," said James.

"I think Peter still calls his parents that," said Remus thoughtfully. 

They all shared a laugh at the expense of their friend.

**All right then, thirty-seven then," said Dudley, going red in the face.**

**Harry, who could see a huge Dudley tantrum coming on, **

"Uh-oh."

**began wolfing down his bacon as fast as possible in case Dudley turned the table over.**

"Good idea."

**Aunt Petunia obviously scented danger too, because she said quickly, "And we'll buy you another **_**two**_** presents while we're out today. How's that popkin? **_**Two**_** more presents. Is that all right?"**

"More?" Lily said. "Merlin, that's almost forty Petunia! Give it a rest!"

**Dudley thought for a moment. It looked like hard work.**

"Probably was," Sirius muttered.

**Finally he said slowly, "So I'll have thirty ... thirty ..."**

"You know, the boy's so slow I would swear that he had some of Wormtail's genes if I didn't know better," said Sirius.

**"Thirty nine, sweetums," said Aunt Petunia.**

"Sweetums," snorted Sirius.

**"Oh." Dudley sat down heavily and **

"Caused an earthquake," muttered Sirius.

**grabbed the nearest parcel. "All right then."**

**Uncle Vernon chuckled. "Little tyke**

"Little tyke? _Little? _In what way is that boy _little?" _

**wants his money's worth, just like his father.**

"Well, he is just like his father," said Lily.

**Atta boy, Dudley!" He ruffled Dudley's hair**. **At that moment the telephone rang**

They all looked at Lily. She sighed and said, " I already explained this, James!" 

"Well, I've forgotten. And Sirius wasn't here," James pointed out.

"Fine," she said, and repeated what she had said about telephones earlier.

"Why don't they just use the fires or owls?" asked Sirius.

"That's exactly what I said!"

"Oh, so you _do_ remember!" James flushed and continued to read.

**and Aunt Petunia went to answer it while Harry and Uncle Vernon watched Dudley unwrap the racing bike, a cine-camera, a remote control airplane, sixteen new computer games and a video recorder.**

"You know what, we won't even bother asking. That's just too much stuff for me to care about," announced Sirius.

**He was ripping the paper off a gold wristwatch when Aunt Petunia came back from the telephone, looking both angry and worried.**

"Good," both James and Sirius said at once.

**"Bad news, Vernon," she said. "Mrs. Figg's broken her leg. She can't take him." She jerked her head in Harry's direction**

"He's in the room, you know! And he has a name!" said Lily.

**Dudley's mouth fell open in horror, but Harry's heart gave a leap. Every year on Dudley's birthday his parents took him and a friend to adventure parks, hamburger bars or the cinema. **

"And I bet they don't take Harry" Remus said.

**Every year, Harry was left behind with Mrs. Figg, a mad old lady who lived two streets away.**

"Told you so." Remus muttered angrily.

**Harry hated it there. The whole house smelled of cabbage **

"Ew, I hate cabbage" Sirius said.

**and Mrs. Figg made him look at all the cats **

"Dogs are better," he snorted, and they all laughed a bit at that.

**she'd ever owned.**

**"Now what?" said Aunt Petunia, looking furiously at Harry as though he'd planned this.**

"You know, I might have broken her leg on purpose if I was stuck with her all that time!" said Sirius. Remus and Lily stared at him, but James laughed.

"okay, maybe not broken her leg … " he added under the glares, " but something to get me out of it!"

**Harry knew he ought to feel sorry that Mrs. Figg had broken her leg, but it wasn't easy when he reminded himself it would be a whole year before he had to look at Tibbles, Snowy, Mr. Paws and Tufty again.**

"See, my godson agrees!" he said between laughs.

**"We could phone Marge," Uncle Vernon suggested.**

**"Don't be silly Vernon, she hates the boy."**

"And Harry probably hates her too, then."

**The Dursleys often spoke about Harry like this, as though he wasn't there - or rather, as though he was something very nasty that couldn't understand them, like a slug.**

James sent sparks accidentally through his wand as he continued to read.

**"What about what's-her-name, your friend - Yvonne?"**

"Oh God, I know that girl. She's almost worse than Petunia!" announced Lily. They all grimaced.

**"On holiday in Majorca," snapped Aunt Petunia.**

"Thank God. Harry doesn't need any more annoying people in his life."

"Where's Majorca?" asked Sirius.

"Don't know, don't care," said James.

**"You could just leave me here," Harry put in hopefully (he'd be able to watch what he wanted on television for a change and maybe even have a go on Dudley's computer.)**

"Bet they take him just because he said he wanted to stay at home!" snarled James.

"I'll take you up on that bet!" said Sirius. "Two galleons."

"Done."

**Aunt Petunia looked as though she'd just swallowed a lemon.**

"Nice."

**"And come back and find the house in ruins?" **

"YES! I would totally do that to get back at them!"

"Actually … I agree, that's a good idea," said Lily, sounding amused. James looked shocked.

"What? I hate her, and she deserves it!"

**she snarled. **

"**I won't blow up the house," said Harry, but they weren't listening.**

"There goes that out the window."

**"I suppose we could take him to the zoo,"**

"Yeah! Do that!" James cried enthusiastically. "I could use those two galleons!" Sirius glared at him.

**said Aunt Petunia slowly, "... and leave him in the car ..."**

"Nooooooo..." he groaned

**"That car's new, he's not sitting in it alone ..."**

"Yesssssssssss…"

**Dudley began to cry loudly.**

"Baby" Remus muttered.

**In fact he wasn't really crying it had been years since he'd really cried, but he knew that if he screwed up his face and wailed, his mother would give him anything he wanted.**

"Spoiled little – " 

"James!"

"What? He is a spo –"

"James!"

"Fine!"

**"Dinky Duddydums, don't cry,**

They all fell about laughing.

"I – I think my side is gonna explode!" gasped Sirius. James finally caught his breath and continued.

**Mummy won't let him spoil your special day!" she cried, flinging her arms around him.**

**I ... don't ... want ... him ... t-t-to come!" Dudley yelled between huge pretend sobs. "He always sp-spoils everything!" He shot Harry a nasty grin through the gap in his mother's arms.**

"Git," said Sirius and James.

**Just then, the doorbell rang – **

"doorbell, Lily?" asked Remus.

"It's beside the door on the outside. You press it and it rings inside, to let you know there's someone outside."

"Why don't they just knock?" asked James.

"Well, sometimes you can't hear knocks." James shrugged.

**"Oh, Good Lord, they're here!" said Aunt Petunia frantically - and a moment later, Dudley's best friend Piers Polkiss,**

"And you guys say Sirius is a bad name! Look at the people in this book! Dudley Dursley and Piers Polkiss!"

**walked in with his mother.**

"You mean his mommy," corrected Remus. More laughs greeted his words.

**Piers was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat.**

They laughed again.

"But rats aren't that bad, " reasoned Remus, thinking of Peter.

**He was usually the one who held people's arms behind their backs while Dudley hit them.**

"Friendly child," Sirius said sarcastically.

**Dudley stopped pretending to cry at once.**

"Look how that worked out!"

**Half an hour later, Harry, who couldn't believe his luck, was sitting in the back of the Dursleys' car with Piers and Dudley, on the way to the zoo for the first time in his life.**

"Woo-hoo!" James yelled. "Give me my galleons, Padfoot!"

"What if I don't want to?"

"Then I'll make you."

"How?"

"For God's sake, Padfoot, give Prongs his money. You know he'll beat you and get the money anyway!"

"How d'you know? I could win!"

"No, you couldn't, now fork up my money!"

"Fine! But I'm not betting any more of _my_ money!"

**His aunt and uncle hadn't been able to think of anything else to do with him, but before they'd left, Uncle Vernon had taken Harry aside.**

**"I'm warning you," he had said, putting his large purple face right up close to Harry's,**

"Purple?" snorted Sirius. "This Rowling person sure likes colours!"

**"I'm warning you now, boy -any funny business, anything at all - and you'll be in that cupboard from now until Christmas."**

"They'd better not" James growled menacingly.

**"I'm not going to do anything," said Harry, "honestly ..."**

**But Uncle Vernon didn't believe him. No ever did. The problem was, strange things often happened around Harry and it was just no good telling the Dursleys he didn't make them happen.**

"That's because you're a wizard, Harry" Remus said.

**Once, Aunt Petunia, tired of Harry coming back from the barber's looking as though he hadn't been at all, had taken a pair of scissors and cut his hair so short he was almost bald except for his fringe,**

"Oh, she's going to pay for that!" growled James. Sparks emitted from his wand.

**which she left 'to hide that horrible scar'.**

"That scar isn't horrible, it's cool! When did _you_ ever cheat death?"

"Padfoot, they can't hear you in the book!"

**Dudley laughed himself silly at Harry, who spent a sleepless night imagining school the next day, where he was already laughed at for his baggy clothes and his Sellotaped glasses. Next morning, however, he had got up to find his hair exactly as it had been before Aunt Petunia had sheared it off.**

"Nobody can beat the potter hair!" James said happily

**He had been given a week in his cupboard for this,** **even though he had tried to explain that he couldn't explain how it had grown back so quickly.**

"How is that his fault? Even if he wasn't a wizard, how is that his fault?"

**Another time, Aunt Petunia had been trying to force him into a revolting old jumper of Dudley's (brown with orange bobbles).**

"Gross!"

**The harder she tried to pull it over his head, the smaller it seemed to become, until finally it might have fitted a glove puppet, but certainly wouldn't fit Harry.**

They all chuckled.

**Aunt Petunia had decided it must have shrunk in the wash and, to his great relief, Harry wasn't punished.**

"Good" Lily mumbled.

**On the other hand, he'd got into terrible trouble for being found on the roof of the school kitchens.**

"What was he doing up there?" Remus asked.

**Dudley's gang had been chasing him as usual**

More sparks flew out of wands, but this time they came from Lily's as well as from James's wand.

**when, as much to Harry's surprise as anyone else's, there he was sitting on the chimney.**

"Cool! Prongs, your son can already Apparate!"Sirius cried "That's brilliant!"

"Nah, if it were apparating, they would've described that squeezing, breathless, black feeling. Must be something different."

"But what?"

"Who knows. Here are all sorts of magic kids do that can't be repeated when they're adults. They do wandless magic." Lily and Remus nodded and the knowledgeable words James had said. In Lily's opinion, he didn't say smart things very often.

**The Dursley's had received a very angry letter from Harry's headmistress telling them Harry had been climbing school buildings. But all he tried to do (as he shouted at Uncle Vernon through the locked door of his cupboard)**

"He had better not be in that place for long!" growled Sirius.

"Easy, boy," joked Remus.

**was jump behind the big bins outside the kitchen doors. Harry supposed that the wind must have caught him in mid-jump.**

Remus snorted "Yeah, right, _that_ could happen."

**But today, nothing was going to go wrong. It was even worth being with Dudley and Piers to be spending the day somewhere that wasn't school, his cupboard or Mrs. Figg's cabbage-smelling living-room.**

"That's true."

**While he drove, Uncle Vernon complained to Aunt Petunia. He liked to complain about things: people at work, Harry, the council, Harry, the bank and Harry**

"This guy's repetitive," joked Sirius, but sparks were coming from James' wand.

**were just a few of his favorite subjects. **

**This morning, it was motorbikes.**

"Mine flies," grinned Sirius.

**"... roaring along like maniacs, the young hoodlums," he said, as a motorbike overtook them.**

**"I had a dream about a motorbike," said Harry, remembering suddenly. "It was flying."**

"Yeah, that was my one!"

"But what was he thinking when he mentioned that?"

**Uncle Vernon nearly crashed into the car in front. He turned right around in his seat and yelled at Harry, his face like a gigantic beetroot with a moustache, "MOTORBIKES DON'T FLY!"**

"Yeah they do! Mine does!"

"You don't have it yet, Padfoot," said James.

"Yeah, and you and Evans aren't married _yet,_" he replied. That shut James up.

**Dudley and Piers snickered.**

**"I know they don't," said Harry. **"**It was only a dream."**

**But he wished he hadn't said anything. If there was one thing the Dursleys hated more than his asking questions, it was his talking about anything acting in a way it shouldn't, no matter if it was in a dream or even in a cartoon - they seemed to think he might get dangerous ideas.**

"Because they know he's a wizard."

**It was a very sunny Saturday and the zoo was crowded with people. The Dursleys bought Dudley and Piers large chocolate ice-creams at the entrance**

"They'd better buy Harry one" Sirius growled, sparks flying out of his own wand now.

**and then, because the smiling lady in the van had asked Harry what he wanted before they could hurry him away, they bought him a cheap lemon ice lolly.**

"Better than nothing," Remus sighed.

"Actually, they aren't bad either," said Lily.

**It wasn't bad either, Harry thought,**

"And my son agrees!"

"Wow, that was exactly what he was thinking!"

"Well, I guess he's like me then!"

"What about me?" moaned James. They laughed some more. James grudgingly continued reading.

**licking it as they watched a gorilla scratching its head and looking remarkably like Dudley, except that it wasn't blond.**

Everyone laughed at that.

**Harry had the best morning he'd had in a long time. He was careful to walk a little way apart from the Dursleys so that Dudley and Piers, who were starting to get bored with the animals by lunchtime, wouldn't fall back on their favorite hobby of hitting him.**

"Smart move, Harry" Remus said

**They ate in the zoo restaurant and when Dudley had a tantrum because his knickerbockers glory wasn't big enough,**

"What?"

**Uncle Vernon bought him another one and Harry was allowed to finish the first.**

"Oh goodie, a gorilla's leftover meal," snorted Sirius.

**Harry felt, afterwards, that he should have known it was all too good to last.**

"Uh oh" Lily mumbled

**After lunch they went to the reptile house.**

"What happens there, d'you reckon?" asked Sirius.

"Shhh, let James read."

**It was cool and dark in here, with lit windows all along the walls. Behind the glass, all sorts of lizards and snakes were crawling and slithering over bits of wood and stone.** **Dudley and Piers wanted to see huge, poisonous cobras and thick, man-crushing pythons**

"Hope they get bitten," mumbled Sirius. "Only joking," he added unconvincingly.

**Dudley quickly found the largest snake in the place.**

**It could have wrapped its body twice around Uncle Vernon's car,and crushed it into a dustbin -**

"I hope it does!" Sirius exclaimed enthusiastically. This time no one disagreed.

**but at the moment it didn't look in the mood.**

"Awww … what a shame."

**In fact, it was fast asleep.** **Dudley stood with his nose pressed against the glass, staring at the glistening brown coils**.

**"Make it move," he whined at his father. Uncle Vernon tapped on the glass, but the snake didn't budge.**

"that'll just annoy the poor snake."

**"Do it again," Dudley ordered.**

"Bossy child."

**Uncle Vernon rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.**

**"This is boring," Dudley moaned. He shuffled away.**

**Harry moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. He wouldn't have been surprised if it had died of boredom itself - no company except people drumming their fingers on the glass trying to disturb it all day long. **

"That would be depressing," said James.

"'Specially if it's that gorilla and his father," added Sirius.

**It was worse than having a cupboard for a bedroom, where the only visitor was Aunt Petunia hammering on the door to wake you up**

"I'm not so sure Harry, it seems pretty even," commented Sirius.

**- at least he got to visit the rest of the house.**

"That's true … but is that really a good thing?"

**The snake suddenly opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were level with Harry's. **_**It winked.**_

"I may not know much about snakes, but I'm pretty sure they don't do that," said James.

"No, Prongs, they don't."

**Harry stared. Then he looked quickly around to see if anyone was watching. They weren't. He looked back at the snake and winked, too.**

**The snake jerked its head towards Uncle Vernon and Dudley, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave Harry a look that said quite plainly: "I get that all the time."**

**I know," Harry murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."**

**The snake nodded vigorously.**

"Oh my God, my son's a Parselmouth!"

"A what?" asked Lily. It was now James' turn to explain something Lily did not know … and that didn't happen very often. 

"Hah, I know something you don't," he mocked her. She sent a binding jinx at James. He frowned and answered:

"It means he can talk to snakes. They're rare, Voldemort is one, only known one too." Lily shuddered and released him.

**"Where do you come from, anyway?" Harry asked.**

**The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Harry peered at it. Boa Constrictor, Brazil."Was it nice there?"**

**The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and Harry read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo. "Oh, I see - so you've never been to Brazil?"**

"I can't believe he's chatting to a snake about Brazil" Sirius said faintly.

**As the snake shook its head, a deafening shout behind Harry made both of them jump. " DUDLEY! MR DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T BELIEVE WHAT IT'S DOING!"**

"Idiot boy!" muttered Sirius.

**Dudley came waddling towards them as fast as he could. **

"So it must've been about a day," chortled Remus.

**"Out of the way, you," he said, punching Harry in the ribs.**

More angry red sparks flew out of all the wands.

"Ow. Watch it, Prongs, those sparks hurt!" yelled Sirius.

"Oh, sorry," mumbled James, fighting to control his anger.

**Caught by surprise, Harry fell hard on the concrete floor. **

"He'd better not be hurt!"

**What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened - one second, Piers and Dudley were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.**

"What'd he do?" Sirius asked eagerly.

**Harry sat up and gasped; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. **

"AWESOME!"

**The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out on to the floor - people throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.**

"That would be scary for most people," said Lily.

"If they're scared, why do they come to the _reptile house?"_ asked Sirius.

**As the snake slid swiftly past him, Harry could have sworn a low, hissing voice said, " Brazil, here I come ... Thanksss, amigo."**

"You know, it would be kind of cool to be able to talk to a snake" James said thoughtfully.

**The keeper of the reptile house was in shock.**

"I would be too," Lily said.

**"But the glass," he kept saying, "where did the glass go?"**

"It flew to brazil to meet up with its cousin, the door," offered Sirius.

The others laughed and stared at him weirdly.

"What, I answered his question. What's wrong with that?"

**The zoo director himself made Aunt Petunia a cup of strong sweet tea while he apologized over and over again.**

"That'll make everything better, won't it," said Sirius sarcastically.

**Piers and Dudley could only gibber. As far as Harry had seen, the snake hadn't done anything except snap playfully at their heels as it passed,**

"Damn, it should've bitten him," Sirius mumbled.

**but by the time they were all back in uncle Vernon's car, Dudley was telling them how it had nearly bitten off his leg,**

"Like I said, it should have"

**while Piers was swearing it had tried to squeeze him to death.**

"Dramatic, aren't they?" said Remus

**But, worst of all, for Harry at least, was Piers calming down enough to say, "Harry was talking to it, weren't you, Harry?"**

They all groaned.

"Now Harry'll be punished. They'll lock him in the cupboard!" groaned Remus.

"They had damn well better not!" shouted James, more sparks coming from his wand.

**Uncle Vernon waited until Piers was safely out of the house before starting on Harry. He was so angry he could hardly speak. He managed to say, "Go - cupboard - stay - no meals,"**

James looked murderous. "VERNON DURSLEY YOU HAD BETTER LET MY SON EAT!"

Sparks were everywhere in the room, coming from all four wands.

Everyone sat in silence for a minute before James calmed down enough to continue, and this took a while.

**before he collapsed into a chair and Aunt Petunia had to run and get him a large brandy.**

**Harry lay in his dark cupboard much later, wishing he had a watch. He didn't know what time it was and he couldn't be sure the Dursleys were asleep yet. Until they were, he couldn't risk sneaking in to the kitchen for some food.**

**He'd lived with the Dursleys almost ten years, ten miserable years, **

"Sorry Harry" Lily whispered softly

**as long as he could remember, ever since he'd been a baby and his parents had died.**

Tears began falling on Lily's cheek, and James held her tightly for a while.

"We're so sorry, son," she sobbed softly.

**Sometimes, when he strained his memory during long hours in his cupboard, he came up with a strange vision: a blinding flash of green light**

"The killing curse," Sirius breathed.

"Merlin, did Harry survive the _Avada Kedavra,_ Prongs?" asked Remus.

"I don't know. He – he must have," replied James, seeming both proud of and amazed by his future son.

"That would be how he got the scar then" Lily muttered

**and a burning pain on his forehead. This, he supposed, was the crash,**

Fury mingled with sadness again." Those lying ... My son deserves to know how we died! HE DESEVERS TO KNOW THE TRUTH!" Those words coming from Lily's mouth surprised everyone.

**though he couldn't imagine where the green light came from.** **He couldn't remember his parents at all.**

Tears slid down James' face as well. He never cried. Never. But this … his own son not knowing … 

Sirius got up and patted his friend on the back. James pulled himself together.

**His aunt and uncle never spoke about them, and of course he was forbidden to ask questions. There were no photographs of them in the house.**

"So he doesn't even know what you look like?" Remus muttered, his eyes flashing amber, showing his wolfish side.

**When he had been younger, Harry had dreamed and dreamed of some unknown relation coming to take him away, but it had never happened;**

James looked almost accusingly at his two friends, who shrugged sadly, not knowing their own states in this future world.

**the Dursleys were his only family.**

"How terrible."

**Yet sometimes he thought (or maybe hoped) that strangers in the street seemed to know him. **

"They probably do," muttered Remus. "He's famous."

**Very strange strangers they were, too.** **A tiny man in a violet top hat had bowed to him once while out shopping with Aunt Petunia and Dudley. After asking Harry furiously if he knew the man, Aunt Petunia had rushed them out of the shop without buying anything. **

**A wild-looking woman dressed in all green has waved merrily at him once on a bus. A bald man in a very long purple cloak had actually shaken his hand in the street the other day then walked away without another word. The weirdest thing about all these people was the way they seemed to vanish the second Harry tried to get a closer look.**

"Definitely wizards," nodded Remus.

"Couldn't they have told him something? Anything!" demanded Lily.

**At school, Harry had no one. Everybody knew that Dudley's gang hated that odd Harry Potter in his baggy old clothes and broken glasses, and nobody liked to disagree with Dudley's gang.**

"That's the end of the chapter," said James quietly. "Who wants the next one?"

"I'll go next, said Remus, taking the book from James.

**A/N Thanks to ****swirlsofstars, creative-writing-girl13, ****Bruna B. T. Black, isaneone, larabrambleofbywater, realbard88, Bewitched Hybrid and shetlandlace **** for added me to their alerts/faves, and to creative-writing-girl13 for my first review!**

**Sorry this one's shorter than the last one, and I'll try to update soon.**

**Now R-E-V-I-E-W!**


	3. Tied Up and Silent

**A/n Look how fast I updated! (grins)  
**

**Thanks to all my reviewers, especially ****Xx.siriusly.lily.xX**** for pointing out a mistake!**

**And thanks to Palmer4President, New1Romantic, Cinderella912, world peace, ****udonotneedtonosorry, and twinfeathers for adding me to their subscription lists/faves.**

* * *

**The Letters from No One**

"Yeah! This must be his Hogwarts letter!"Sirius yelled

"Wait. It says letter_**s**_, as in plural. How come?" asked Remus.

"Well, maybe they send a bunch. Who cares, Moony. We'll find out. You think way too much, I've always said that."

"Yes, but you hardly think at all, Padfoot!" They all chuckled, except Sirius.

"Wait, guys. Before we start reading," said Lily, " I think this should be the last chapter. It's getting kind of late."

"Lily's right," said James, checking his watch.

"But I didn't get a turn to read!" moaned Sirius.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Fine, this one, then one more for Sirius to read, then that's it for today. Agreed?"

"Fine," they all said together.

**The escape of the Brazilian boa constrictor earned Harry his longest-ever punishment.**

"Easy, Prongs. The last time you sent sparks out I got burned. So, for my sake, will you put your wand down?" pleaded Sirius. James hesitated, but eventually put his wand in his pocket and motioned for Remus to continue.

**By the time he was allowed out of his cupboard again, the summer holidays had started**

"Damn Dursleys!"

**and Dudley had already broken his new cine-camera, crashed his remote-control aeroplane and, first time on his racing bike, knocked down old Mrs. Figg as she crossed Privet Drive on her crutches.**

"Merlin, even Wormtail wouldn't do that stuff!"

"Hey, you guys think we should go and fetch Wormtail to read with us?" asked James.

Lily stiffened. "Don't," she said quietly. The boys stared, but didn't dare oppose her.

**Harry was glad school was over, but there was no escaping Dudley's gang, who visited the house every single day.**

Sirius growled, and sparks came from his wand.

"What did you say about the sparks again, Padfoot?" teased James.

"Forget it. These people are just too infuriating!"

"Wow, I'm surprised that you know such a big word!" teased Lily. Sirius made a face and hit James on the head.

"What was that for?"

"For laughing."

"Remus was laughing too!"

"Yes, but he has to read."

"Well why didn't you hit Lily then?"

"Idiot! I never hit girls!"

"Oh, how nice of you," mocked Lily.

"Don't push me," Sirius joked back.

"Guys, back to the book …" interrupted Remus. They all laughed and he continued.

**Piers, Dennis, Malcolm and Gordon**

"Merlin, all their parents must hate them! Look at these names!" commented Sirius.

"And why would they want to hang out with Diddykins? My son is way better!"

**were all big and stupid,**

"Well that explains it. They're stupid. No wonder they hang around Dudley"

**but as Dudley was the biggest and stupidest of the lot, he was the leader.**

"That's smart, make the stupidest one leader" Remus muttered.

"Well, they are too stupid to know what's smart."

**The rest of them were quite happy to join in Dudley's favourite sport: Harry-hunting.**

Sirius started growling at the book.

"Easy boy. Down! Down!" mocked James.

**This was why Harry spent as much time as possible out of the house, wandering around thinking about the end of the holidays, where he could see a tiny ray of hope. When September came he would be going off to secondary school**

"Sorry, but you're wrong," James began.

"You'll be at Hogwarts!" Lily finished for him.

**and, for the first time in his life, he wouldn't be with Dudley. Dudley had a place at Uncle Vernon's old school, Smeltings**

James snickered. "What a name. Almost as good as 'Dudley'"

**Piers Polkiss was going there, too. Harry, on the other hand, was going to Stonewall High, the local comprehensive.**

"The local what?"

"Don't ask me," shrugged Lily. "I've no idea!"

**Dudley thought this was very funny.**

"How is that funny?" asked James, genuinely confused.

**"They stuff people's heads down the toilet first day at Stonewall," he told Harry. "Want to come upstairs and practice?"**

"Git."

**"No thanks," said Harry. "The poor toilet's never had anything as horrible as your head down it - it might be sick"**

"Prongs, your boy's a damn genius!" laughed Sirius.

"What can I say, he takes after his fa – I mean his mother," James said sweetly. Lily blushed slightly.

**Then he ran for it before Dudley could work out what he'd said.**

"Don't think that'll happen any time soon," retorted Sirius.

**One day in July, Aunt Petunia took Dudley to London to buy his Smeltings uniform, leaving Harry at Mrs. Figg's. Mrs. Figg wasn't as bad as usual. It turned out she'd broken her leg tripping over one her cats and she didn't seem quite as fond of them as before.**

They all laughed.

"I told you dogs are way better!"

**She let Harry watch television and gave him a bit of chocolate cake that tasted as though she'd had it for several years.**

"Um, not sure Harry should have eaten that, Prongs."

**That evening, Dudley paraded around the living-room for the family in his brand-new uniform. Smeltings boys wore maroon tailcoats, orange knickerbockers and flat straw hats called boaters.**

"Maroon and orange, with weird hats. Bet he's really looking forward to wearing that," retorted Sirius.

**They also carried knobbly sticks, used for hitting each other while the teachers weren't looking.**

"What kind of horrible school is this?"

**This was supposed to be good training for later life.**

"So they expect them to hit each other?" asked James.

"Yeah, but why when the teacher isn't looking if it's supposed to be done?" wondered Remus.

"How is that training?" asked James.

"How is that good?" asked Lily at the same time.

"Who knows. But I'll bet it's not as fun as hitting bludgers at Malfoy!" snickered Sirius, being a Gryffindor beater, with Lucius Malfoy being a Slytherin chaser.

"Actually, it's more fun hitting Regulus than it is hitting Malfoy," added Sirius. Regulus, Sirius' younger brother, was the Slytherin seeker.

**As he looked at Dudley in his new knickerbockers, **

"What exactly are knickerbockers?" asked Sirius.

**Uncle Vernon said gruffly that it was the proudest moment of his life.**

"Hasn't had a very good life then, has he?" commented James.

**Aunt Petunia burst into tears and said she couldn't believe her Ickle Dudleykins**

"I love the names she has for him" James chuckled.

**he looked so handsome and grown-up.**

**Harry didn't trust himself to speak. He thought two of his ribs might already have cracked from trying not to laugh**

"Yeah, we've already done our fair share of laughing, haven't we," mused James. The others nodded.

**There was a horrible smell in the kitchen the next morning**

"Must be Dudley," snorted James and Sirius automatically.

**when Harry went for breakfast. It seemed to be coming from a large metal tub in the sink**

"No, he wouldn't have fit in there," said Remus reasonably.

**He went to have a look. The tub was full of what looked like dirty rags swimming in grey water**.

"Urgh. What in the name of Merlin's foot is that?" asked James.

"Merlin's foot?" said Sirius, laughing madly.

**"What's this?" he asked Aunt Petunia. Her lips tightened as they always did if he dared to ask a question.**

"Horribly woman. If she wasn't your sister, Lils, I would kill her!"

"Who cares if she's my sister? I'm going to kill her!"

**"Your new school uniform," she said.**

"PETUNIA YOU HORRIBLE WOMAN! MY ONLY SON WILL MOST DEFINITELY NOT WEAR THAT GARBAGE!" bellowed Lily ferociously. The boys were in shock.

After a while James asked tentatively, "You okay, Lils?"

She nodded, blushing slightly. "It's just, she makes me so MAD!" and several sparks flew out of her wand at the last word.

"Um, why don't I take your wand Lily," said Remus politely.

"Yeah, for Padfoot's sake," joked James, because Sirius, sitting with his back leaning on the sofa James and Lily were sitting on, had been hit by the sparks … again.

"Wait a minute first," she said, and she conjured a small ball. James took her wand and put it with his own.

"What's that?" he asked.

"This," she said, holding the ball, "is a stress ball. You squeeze it to let out your anger."

**Harry looked in the bowl again.**

"Don't Harry!" Sirius cried dramatically.

**"Oh," he said. "I didn't realise it had to be so wet."**

**"Don't be stupid,"**

"Don't worry, he's my son, not yours, so he's not the stupid one," said James.

**snapped aunt Petunia. "I'm dyeing**

"Oh good, she's dying!" said Sirius.

"No padfoot, not dying as in to die, but dyeing, as in to change to a different colour."

"Oooh. My one would've been better, though."

**I'm dyeing some of Dudley's old things grey for you. It'll look like everyone else's when I've finished."**

"Yeah, I seriously doubt that" James mumbled, and Lily passed him the stress ball, which he squeezed tightly.

**Harry seriously doubted this, but thought it best not to argue. He sat down at the table and tried not to think about how he was going to look on his first day at Stonewall High - like he was wearing bits of old elephant skin, probably.**

"wouldn't it be weird to wear elephant skin?" said Sirius randomly.

"Uh … sure. Now back to the book."

**Dudley and Uncle Vernon came in, both with wrinkled noses because of the smell from Harry's new uniform.**

Lily and James shuddered.

**Uncle Vernon opened his newspaper as usual and Dudley banged his Smeltings stick, which he carried everywhere, on the table.**

**They heard the click of the letter-box and flop of letters on the doormat.**

**"Get the post, Dudley," said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.**

"Least he didn't get Harry to do it," said James, his grip on the ball relaxing a fraction.

**Make Harry get it."**

"No, Harry doesn't want to"

**"Get the post, Harry."**

"Make Dudley get it"

**"Make Dudley get it."**

James blinked.

"Wow, that hasn't happened since old Minnie and Dumbledore," commented Sirius. James chucked the ball at him. Sirius caught it and threw it back.

**"Poke him with your Smeltings stick, Dudley."**

"no, poke your fat father with the stick, Dudley," said James hopefully, but it didn't work.

**Harry dodged the Smeltings stick**

"Ah, well, can't win 'em all. Thank God Harry dodged it."

**and went to get the post.**

"Don't give up, son!"

**Three things lay on the doormat: a postcard from Uncle Vernon's sister Marge,**

"So?"

**who was holidaying on the Isle of Wight,**

"So?"

**a brown envelope that looked like a bill**

"A what?"

"Stop interrupting, Black!"

"What, can't a guy say what he wants to, Ev – Lily?" asked Sirius.

**and - a letter for Harry.**

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts," chanted Sirius, jumping up to walk around in a circle. James joined in, throwing the stress ball God knows where.

To everyone's surprise, Lily joined as well.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts … "

**Harry picked it up and stared at it,**

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts … "

**his heart twanging like a giant elastic band.**

Sirius didn't bother asking what they were, he was too busy chanting.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts." At this point, Lily had stopped but the other two were still going.

**No one, ever, in his whole life, had written to him.**

"That's so sad," said Lily softly, barely audible under the chants of "Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hogwarts … "

**Who would?**

"Hogwarts!" replied James and Sirius jovially.

"I would too," added Sirius.

"Well. Why didn't you?" questioned James.

Sirius shrugged.

**He had no friends, **

Lily was now looking at the book sadly.

**no other relatives**

"Do I not count?" asked Sirius.

"Well, you're not writing. He probably doesn't even know the two of you exist!" said Lily reasonably.

James looked horrified. His own son not know the existence of his best friends?

"That hurts," said Sirius dramatically.

**he didn't belong to the library so he'd never even got rude notes asking for books back. Yet, here it was, a letter, addressed so plainly there could be no mistake:**

**Mr. H. Potter, the Cupboard under the Stairs.**

James bent down looking for his stress ball, muttering as he did so, "Damn cupboard. Stupid Dursleys."

**4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey**

**The envelope was thick and heavy, made of yellowish parchment, and the address was written in emerald-green ink.**

"Why green? That's Slytherin! Red and Gold would be better!" said Sirius.

**There was no stamp.**

"Stamp?" asked James as all three of the boys' heads turned to face Lily. James even stopped looking for the ball.

"Didn't you take Muggle Studies, Black?"

"You think I paid attention?"

"Well then, why'd you take it?"

"To annoy my parents. Why else?"

Lily laughed and briefly explained stamps.

"Completely useless," muttered James.

**Turning the envelope over, his hand trembling, Harry saw a purple wax seal bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger and a snake surrounding a large letter 'H'.**

Sirius started to chant again. James laughed and joined in.

**"Hurry up, boy!" shouted Uncle Vernon from the kitchen. "What are you doing, checking for letter-bombs?" He chuckled at his own joke.**

"Lame," said James and Sirius, forgetting their chants. Lily was pretty sure that they didn't even know what letter bombs were, but they wanted to riddicule Vernon, so she let it be.

**Harry went back to the kitchen, still staring at his letter.**

They started chanting again. Remus laughed and read a little louder.

**He handed Uncle Vernon the bill and the postcard, sat down and slowly began to open the yellow envelope.**

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts!"

**Uncle Vernon ripped open the bill, snorted in disgust and flipped over the postcard**

"HOGWARTS! HOGWARTS!" it was getting far too loud. Lily thought she would go deaf. She didn't even have her wand to silence them.

**"Marge's ill," he informed Aunt Petunia. "Ate a funny whelk ..."**

Sirius looked like he had something to say about the whelk, but the chanted seemed more important.

**"Dad!" said Dudley suddenly. "Dad, Harry's got something!"**

The chanted stopped abruptly as they stared at the book venomously.

"That fat boy had better not ruin this!" snarled Sirius. James began searching for the stress ball again.

**Harry was on the point of unfolding his letter,**

"What took him so long!" whined James, still searching.

**which was written on the same heavy parchment as the envelope, when it was jerked sharply out of his hand by Uncle Vernon.**

"That's his!" yelled Sirius indignantly.

James searched frantically, trying not to lose control. Remus sensed this and summoned it with a simple _accio _charm. He threw it to James, who immediately began squashing it to death.

"**That's mine!" said Harry, trying to snatch it back."Who'd be writing to you?" sneered Uncle Vernon,**

"Git," said James and Sirius.

**shaking the letter open with one hand and glancing at it.** **His face went from red to green faster than a set of traffic lights.**

"Like I said, this author sure does like the colours."

"And his face turns really weird ones!"

**And it didn't stop there.**

They all laughed and James relaxed completely.

**Within seconds it was the greyish white of old porridge.**

More laughs.

**"P-P-Petunia!" he gasped. Dudley tried to grab the letter to read it,**

"Brat,"

**but Uncle Vernon held it high out of his reach.**

"HAH!" yelled James. "If my son can't read it, neither can you!"

**Aunt Petunia took it curiously and read the first line. For a moment it looked as though she might faint.**

"Oh please do" Lily murmured.

**She clutched her throat and made a choking noise.**

"Choking would be much better!" grinned James.

**" Vernon. Oh my goodness - Vernon!"**

"Damn, she's not going to choke," said Sirius sadly.

"Well, she shouldn't be surprised. She knows he's a wizard, and she knows all wizards get one!" said Lily.

**They stared at each other, seeming to have forgotten that Harry and Dudley were still in the room. Dudley wasn't used to being ignored. He gave his father a sharp tap on the head with his Smeltings stick.**

"Brat," they all said automatically.

**"I want to read that letter," he said loudly.**

"Harry should read it, as it's his!" said James.

**"I want to read it," said Harry furiously, "as it's mine."**

James blinked again, then yelled, "Give him his letter, Dursley!"

**"Get out both of you," croaked Uncle Vernon, stuffing the letter back inside its envelope.**

"GIVE HIM HIS LETTER!"

**Harry didn't move.**

"Good!" said James. "Stand up for yourself, Harry!"

**"I WANT MY LETTER!" he shouted.**

"GIVE HIM HIS LETTER!"

**"Let me see it!" demanded Dudley.**

"NO!" they yelled at the book.

**"OUT!" roared Uncle Vernon, and he took both Harry and Dudley by the scruffs of their necks and threw them into the hall,**

"Leave my kid alone!" shouted Lily and James.

"Easy, use the stress ball," soothed Remus. "At least he did the same to Dudley this time!"

**slamming the kitchen door behind them.**

"so listen at the keyhole!" encouraged James.

**Harry and Dudley promptly had a furious but silent fight over who would listen at the keyhole;**

"See?"

**Dudley won,**

"Damn. Well, listen at the floor, then," said Remus.

**So Harry, his glasses dangling from one ear, lay flat on his stomach to listen at the crack between the door and the floor.**

"See? It works"

**"Vernon," Aunt Petunia was saying in a quivering voice, "look at the address - how could they possibly know where he sleeps?**

"Yeah, how _do _they know that?"

"Beats me."

**You don't think they're watching the house?"**

"They don't need to watch you to know," said Remus.

"Even if they don't need to watch, they probably do! I mean, he's the one who defeated Voldemort, after all!" said Sirius seriously (no pun intended).

**"Watching - spying - might be following us," muttered Uncle Vernon wildly.**

"Not following _you, _Dursley. It's my son they care about."

**"But what should we do, Vernon? Should we write back? Tell them we don't want **

Sirius snorted.

**Harry could see Uncle Vernon's shiny shoes pacing up and down the kitchen."No," he said finally. "No, we'll ignore it. If they don't get an answer ... yes, that's best ... we won't do anything ..."**

"That won't work," said Sirius.

"And that's why it said letters from no one as the title of the chapter. They'll probably send more."

**But -"**

**"I'm not having one in the house, Petunia! Didn't we swear when we took him in we'd stamp out all that dangerous nonsense?"**

"They'd better not have hurt him!" thundered Lily.

**That evening when he got back from work, Uncle Vernon did something he'd never done before; he visited Harry in his cupboard.**

"Does he even fit?" James asked

**"Where's my letter?" said Harry, the moment Uncle Vernon had squeezed through the door.**

"That's right, Harry. Don't give up!" said James.

**"Who's writing to me?"**

**"No one. It was addressed to you by mistake," said Uncle Vernon shortly.**

"It was not a mistake!" yelled James, outraged.

**"I have burned it."**

"IDIOT! It was not a mistake! It even had his cupboard on it!" repeated James.

**"It was not a mistake," said Harry angrily. "It had my cupboard on it."**

"Like father like son," grinned Sirius.

**"SILENCE!" yelled Uncle Vernon, and a couple of spiders fell from the ceiling. He took a few deep breaths and then forced** **his face into a smile, which looked quite painful.**

James snorted "probably was"

"**Er – yes, Harry – about this cupboard. Your aunt and I have been thinking...**

"They had better get him out of there!"

**you're really getting a bit big for it …**

"yes … go on …"

**we think it might be nice if you moved into Dudley's second bedroom."**

"Why?" asked Remus

**"Why?" said Harry.**

Remus blinked.

"What is this! everyone is saying what Harry says, except me!" moaned Sirius.

"Come on, Paddy. Everyone says why."

**"Don't ask questions!" snapped his uncle. "Take this stuff upstairs, now."**

"Wow. He's even being mean when he's doing something nice!" said Sirius incredulously.

"Yeah, but I think he's doing it for the wrong kind of reason," said Lily.

**The Dursleys' house had four bedrooms: one for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia, one for visitors (usually Uncle Vernon's sister, Marge),**

They all snorted.

**one where Dudley slept and one where Dudley kept all the toys and things that wouldn't fit into Dudley's first bedroom.**

"Brat" they all said simultaneously. It had become automatic. They just said it every time the book mentioned something spoiled about Dudley.

**It only took Harry one trip upstairs to move everything he owned from the cupboard into his room.**

"Doesn't have much, does he?"

**He sat down on the bed and stared around him.**

**Nearly everything in here was broken. the month-old cine-camera was lying on top of a small, working tank Dudley had once driven over next door's dog;**

They laughed, but didn't seemed to care what a working tank was.

**in the corner was Dudley's first-ever television set, which he'd put his foot through when his favourite programme had been cancelled;**

"Brat."

**there was a large birdcage which had once held a parrot that Dudley had swapped at school for a real air-rifle,**

"What's that?" asked Sirius, intrigued.

"It's a really long tunnel-shaped thing which shoots out air."

**which was up on a shelf with the end all bent because Dudley had sat on it.**

Everyone laughed

**Other shelves were full of books.**

"Books?" questioned James. "It can read?"

**They were the only things in the room that looked as if they hadn't been touched before.**

"Ah, that explains it."

**From downstairs came the sound of Dudley bawling at his mother: "I don't want him in there ... I need that room ... make him get out ..."**

**Harry sighed and stretched out on the bed. Yesterday he'd have given anything to be up here. Today he'd rather be back in his cupboard with that letter than up here without it.**

"I'd feel the same way," said James.

**Next morning at breakfast, everyone was rather quiet. Dudley was in shock. He'd screamed, whacked his father with his Smeltings stick, been sick on purpose, kicked his mother and thrown his tortoise through the greenhouse roof and he still didn't have his room back.**

"Spoiled brat! If I did half of the stuff he does I'd be chucked out of my house!" said Sirius.

"Yeah, well you ran away anyway, so does that even matter?"

**Harry was thinking about this time yesterday and bitterly wishing he'd opened the letter in the hall. **

"yeah. Do that for the next one!"

**Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia kept looking at each other darkly.**

**When the post arrived, Uncle Vernon, who seemed to be trying to be nice to Harry, made Dudley go and get it.**

"The first nice thing he does is obviously the worst thing he could have done!" groaned James.

**They heard him banging things with his Smeltings stick all the way down the hall. Then he shouted, "There's another one! Mr. H. Potter, The Smallest Bedroom, 4 Privet Drive**

James jumped to his feet and yelled, "Get it Harry! Before it's too late! Get it!"

**With a strangled cry, Uncle Vernon leapt from his seat and ran down the hall, Harry right behind him. Uncle Vernon had to wrestle Dudley to the ground to get the letter from him, which was made difficult by the fact that Harry had grabbed Uncle Vernon around the neck from behind.**

"Go Harry!"

**After a minute of confused fighting, in which everyone got hit a lot by the Smeltings stick,**

"Even Dudley?"

**Uncle Vernon straightened up, gasping for breath, with Harry's letter clutched in his hand**.

"Damn," said James, sitting back down and squeezing his stress ball, then tossing it to Sirius, who looked just as annoyed, for him to squeeze.

**Go to your cupboard - I mean, your bedroom," he wheezed at Harry.**

"Git! Tell Dudley to go to his room too!" growled Sirius.

**" Dudley - go - just go."**

"Oh. Good enough," shrugged Sirius.

**Harry walked round and round his room. Someone knew he had moved out of his cupboard and they seemed to know he hadn't received his first letter. Surely that meant they'd try again?**

"Looks like your son's got Lily's brain, Prongs," teased Sirius. "You should be happy."

James jumped on top of Sirius and they fought a bit, then James seemed to get bored, so he went back to sit next to Lily.

She laughed and said, "That's it? You just forgive him?"

"Well, it's hard to stay mad when I've forgotten what he said." Lily burst out laughing.

**And this time he'd make sure they didn't fail. He had a plan.**

"I love it when they say that," grinned James happily.

**The repaired alarm clock rang at six o'clock the next morning. Harry turned it off quickly and dressed silently. He mustn't wake the Dursleys. He stole downstairs without turning on any of the lights.**

"Yes. He's gonna get it before they wake up!"

**He was going to wait for the postman on the corner of Privet Drive and get the letters for number four first.**

"Smart kid!" said James

"Takes after his mother, then," teased Sirius.

James jumped on top of Sirius and they started to fight. "Wait a minute," said James, pausing for a bit.

"Didn't we just do this like two minutes ago?" They began laughing and James sat back down.

**His heart hammered as he crept across the dark hall towards the front door -"AAAAARRRGH!"Harry leapt into the air - he'd trodden on something big and squashy on the doormat - something alive!**

**Lights clicked on upstairs and to his horror Harry realised that the big squashy something had been his uncle's face. **

"Damn!" muttered James.

"Yeah. What a _shame _that he _accidentally _stepped on his uncles _face," _said Sirius, grinning.

**Uncle Vernon had been lying at the foot of the front door in a sleeping bag, clearly making sure that Harry didn't do exactly what he'd been trying to do.**

**He shouted at Harry for about half an hour and then told him to go and make a cup of tea. Harry shuffled miserably off into the kitchen, and by the time he got back, the post had arrived, right into Uncle Vernon's lap. Harry could see three letters addressed in green ink.**

**"I want," he began, but Uncle Vernon was tearing the letters into pieces before his eyes.**

**Uncle Vernon didn't go to work that day. He stayed at home and nailed up the letter-box.**

"He didn't go back to his beloved Drills!" said Sirius in mock shock.

"**See," he explained to Aunt Petunia through a mouthful of nails, "if they can't deliver, they'll just give up."**

"No way. Hogwarts never gives up."

**"I'm not sure that'll work, Vernon."**

**"Oh, these people's minds work in strange ways, Petunia, they're not like you and me," said Uncle Vernon,**

The stress ball looked like it was about to pop.

**trying to knock in a nail with the piece of fruit cake Aunt Petunia had just brought him.**

"Shows what he thinks of her cooking!" James chortled

"If it's anything like it is now, Harry is lucky they starve him some of the time!" Lily snorted.

**On Friday, no fewer than twelve letters arrived for Harry. As they couldn't go through the letter-box they had been pushed under the door, slotted through the sides and a few even forced through the small window in the downstairs toilet.**

"See. They don't give up. The letters just pop up everywhere. I heard someone got one delivered inside an egg. Literally, inside an egg!" said Sirius.

"No way!" said James, laughing.

**Uncle Vernon stayed at home again.**

"The drills must be missing him!"

"But the people who work with him aren't!"

**After burning all the letters, he got out a hammer and nails and boarded up the cracks around the front and back doors so no one could go out. He hummed 'Tiptoe through the Tulips' as he worked, and jumped at small noises.**

**On Saturday, things began to get out of hand. Twenty-four letters to Harry found their way into the house, rolled up and hidden inside each of the two dozen eggs**

"See! Inside the egg!"

**that their very confused milkman had handed Aunt Petunia through the living-room window.**

They laughed.

**While Uncle Vernon made furious telephone calls to the post office and the dairy trying to find someone to complain to, Aunt Petunia shredded the letters in her food mixer.**

"If you just give him one they'll stop coming!"

**"Who on earth wants to talk to you this badly?" Dudley asked Harry in amazement.**

**On Sunday morning, Uncle Vernon sat down at the breakfast table looking tired and rather ill,**

"GOOD!"

**but happy.**

"Too bad."

**"No post on Sunday's," he reminded them happily as he spread marmalade on his newspapers,**

"But in our world," began James.

"There is!" finished Lily. They looked at each other and smiled.

"How sweet. They're finishing each other's sentences," said Sirius, grinning cheekily.

"Well, it was worse when you and James were doing that," said Remus. Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus, who then bound him with a flick of his wand. The stress ball fell out of Sirius' hand, and James picked it up.

**no damn letters today -"**

"You know, I'm getting really tired of being tied up!" Sirius yelled.

"Well then, stop bothering us."

**Something came whizzing down the kitchen chimney**

"Moonyyyyyy! Let me go!" he whined.

**as he spoke and caught him sharply on the back of the head.**

"Oi!" he yelled, slithering on the floor. "Take this off!"

**Next moment, thirty or forty letters came pelting out of the fireplace like bullets. The Dursleys ducked, but Harry leapt into the air trying to catch one –**

"Get one, Harry!" urged James and Lily. Even Sirius stopped thrashing about and had a hopeful look on his face.

**"Out!OUT!" Uncle Vernon seized Harry around the waist and threw him into the hall.**

"He touches my son once more" James growled under his breath

**When Aunt Petunia and Dudley had run out with their arms over their faces, Uncle Vernon slammed the door shut. They could hear the letters still streaming into the room, bouncing off the walls and floor.**

"Come on, just get one!"

**"That does it," said Uncle Vernon, trying to speak calmly but pulling great tufts out of his moustache at the same time.**

They all laughed.

**"I want you all back here in five minutes, ready to leave. We're going away. Just pack some clothes. No arguments!"**

"Just let him get one!"

**He looked so dangerous with half his moustache missing that no one dared argue.**

"That would be more funny than scary, honestly."

**Ten minutes later they had wrenched their way through the boarded-up doors**

Now that it was obvious Harry wasn't going to get one of the letters, Sirius began thrashing around again.

**and were in the car, speeding towards the motorway. Dudley was sniffling in the back seat; his father had hit him round the head**

"Noo! Hit his Ikle Diddykins!"

**for holding them up while he tried to pack his television, video and computer in his sports bag.**

"Like he needs a sports bag. Doesn't play very many sports, does he?"

**They drove. And they drove.**

"GUYS!" roared Sirius. "This is really annoying! Let me up."

"Lily?" asked James. She rolled her eyes. "Leave him another five minutes so he learns his lesson."

"You're the boss, Lils."

"Who says she's the boss? Why am I not the boss?" argued Sirius.

James shrugged.

"Oh, and can I get my wand back?" asked Lily. James gladly obliged, and took his own one out as well.

**Even Aunt Petunia didn't dare ask where they were going. Every now and then Uncle Vernon would take a sharp turning and drive in the opposite direction for a while.**

**"Shake 'em off ... shake 'em off," he would mutter whenever he did this.**

"Nutter."

"MOONY! PRONGS!"

"Five minutes!"

"It's already been five."

"No, that was like two seconds!"

**They didn't stop to eat or drink all day.** **By nightfall Dudley was howling.**

"Hah. Moony probably howls better. He is a wolf, after all." Remus grinned.

**He'd never had such a bad day in his life. He was hungry, he'd missed five television programmes**

"Now he knows how Harry feel, just Harry has it ten times worse!"

**he'd wanted to see and he'd never gone so long without blowing up an alien on his computer.**

"Mmm, can't live without that"

**Uncle Vernon stopped at last outside a gloomy-looking hotel on the outskirts of a big city. Dudley and Harry shared a room with twin beds and damp, musty sheets. Dudley snored but Harry stayed awake, sitting on the window-sill, staring down at the lights of passing cars and wondering...**

**They ate stale cornflakes and cold tinned tomatoes on toast for breakfast the next day.**

"Sounds delicious. Two more minutes, Padfoot!" James added before Sirius opened his mouth.

**They had just finished when the owner of the hotel came over to their table.**

"'**Scuse me, but is one of you Mr. H. Potter? Only I got about an 'undred of these at the front desk."**

"See, they always find you!"

**She held up a letter so they could read the green ink address:**

**Mr. H. Potter, Room 17Railview Hotel, Cokeworth.**

**Harry made a grab for the letter but Uncle Vernon knocked his hand out of the way. The woman stared."I'll take them," said Uncle Vernon quickly, standing up quickly and following her from the dining-room.**

"Why don't they just give him one? The letters _obviously_ aren't going to stop until they do" Lily asked

**"Wouldn't it be better just to go home, dear?" Aunt Petunia suggested timidly, hours later, but Uncle Vernon didn't seem to hear her. Exactly what he was looking for, none of them knew. He drove them into the middle of a forest, got out, looked around, shook his head, got back in the car and off they went again.**

"Alright, Paddy. Time to set you free. _Relashio. _There. Happy?"

"Not particularly."

**The same thing happened in the middle of a ploughed field, halfway across a suspension bridge and at the top of a multi-storey car park.**

"**Daddy's gone mad, hasn't he?" Dudley asked Aunt Petunia dully late that afternoon.**

"No, Popkin, he's been mad his whole life. Didn't you notice?"

**Uncle Vernon had parked at the coast, locked them all inside the car and disappeared.It started to rain. Great drops beat on the roof of the car. Dudley snivelled.**

**"It's Monday," he told his mother.**

"Merlin, he knows the days of the week!"

**"The Great Humberto's on tonight. I want to stay somewhere with a television."**

"Learn to not get what you want, you spoiled brat!" growled James.

"You know, you're pretty spoiled yourself, James!" said Lily. Shock was imminent on his face.

"What!"

"Yes. You always get what you want. I used to think you were pretty arrogant!"

"Thanks a lot," he said sadly.

"Don't worry. That's toned down now."

**Monday.**

"Yeah, we know that already."

**This reminded Harry of something. If it was Monday -and you could usually count on Dudley to know the days of the week,**

"Probably the only thing he knows."

**because of television - then tomorrow, Tuesday, was Harry's eleventh birthday.**

"Woohooo!"

**Of course, his birthdays were never exactly fun -last year, the Dursleys had given him a coat-hanger and a pair of Uncle Vernon's old socks.**

"How nice. They wouldn't give their own kid that crap, so why my son?" asked James.

**Still, you weren't eleven every day.**

"True."

**Uncle Vernon was back and he was smiling.**

**He was also carrying a long, thin package and didn't answer Aunt Petunia when she asked what he'd bought.**

**"Found the perfect place!" he said. "Come on! Everyone out!"It was very cold outside the car. Uncle Vernon was pointing at what looked like a large rock way out to sea. **

"They're sleeping on a rock?" Sirius, asked aghast.

"And you say Wormtail is slow! Course they aren't sleeping on a rock!"

**Perched on top of the rock was the most miserable little shack you could imagine.**

"_That_ is where they are sleeping."

**One thing was certain, there was no television in there.**

"Oh, the horror!"

**"Storm forecast for tonight!" said Uncle Vernon gleefully, clapping his hands together. "And this gentleman's kindly agreed to lend us his boat!"**

"Nut. It'll be freezing in that shack!"

"Yeah. And it still won't stop the letters. McGonagall always knows!"

**A toothless old man came ambling up to them, pointing, with a rather wicked grin, at an old rowing boat bobbing in the iron-grey water below them.**

**"I've already got us some rations," said Uncle Vernon, "so all aboard!"**

**It was freezing in the boat. Icy sea spray and rain crept down their necks and a chilly wind whipped their faces.**

They shivered.

**After what seemed like hours they reached the rock, where Uncle Vernon, slipping and sliding, led the way to the broken-down house**.

**The inside was horrible; it smelled strongly of seaweed, the wind whistled through the gaps in the wooden walls and the fire-place was damp and empty. There were only two rooms.**

**Uncle Vernon's rations turned out to be a packet of crisps each and four bananas.**

"Some rations. You'd think a fat man would bring more food!"

**He tried to start a fire but the empty crisp packets just smoked and shrivelled up.**

"**Could do with some of those letters now eh?" he said cheerfully.**

"Git!"

**He was in a very good mood. Obviously he thought nobody stood a chance of reaching them here in a storm to deliver post.**

"WRONG! Five galleons says Harry'll get one in the shack," announced James.

"Nope. I've lost enough money to you. I'm not betting anymore."

"Remus?"

"Why not."

"Great!"

**Harry privately agreed, though the thought didn't cheer him up at all.**

"Don't worry!"

**As night fell, the promised storm blew up around them. Spray from the high waves splattered the walls of the hut and a fierce wind rattled the filthy windows.**

**Aunt Petunia found a few mouldy blankets in the second room and made up a bed for Dudley on the moth-eaten sofa.**

"What about Harry?" asked James in a quiet, but deadly voice, the stress ball turning pink in his hand.

**She and Uncle Vernon went off to the lumpy bed next door**

"What about Harry?" asked James again.

**and Harry was left to find the softest bit of floor he could find and to curl up under the thinnest, most ragged blanket.**

"That damn woman!"

"I hate her."

**The storm raged more and more ferociously as the night went on. Harry couldn't sleep. He shivered and turned over, trying to get comfortable, his stomach rumbling with hunger.**

**Dudley's snores were drowned by the low rolls of thunder that started near midnight.**

**The lighted dial of Dudley's watch, which was dangling over the edge of the sofa on his fat wrist, told Harry he'd be eleven in ten minutes' time.**

"Let's sing him Happy Birthday!!" exclaimed Sirius.

"You do realize he isn't even _born_ yet, and that he can't hear you, right Sirius?" asked Lily.

"Hey! You called me Sirius!"

"What should I call you? Idiot?"

"No. You usually call me Black! Anyway, who cares if it's in the book? Let's just sing!"

The others sighed and sang Happy Birthday to Harry. At the end of it, James actually seemed happier.

**He lay and watched his birthday tick nearer, wondering if the Dursleys would remember at all,**

"Probably not"

**wondering where the letter-writer was now.**

"Coming. Hopefully"

**Five minutes to go. Harry heard something creak outside.**

"Probably the "Letter-writer" as Harry so brilliantly called him," joked Sirius.

"Don't make fun of my son!"

"Why not?"

"Oh not this again. Just give it a rest, will you?" pleaded Lily tiredly. "We have to get through this and another chapter!"

**He hoped the roof wasn't going to fall in,**

"So do I!"

**although it might be warmer if it did. Four minutes to go. Maybe the house in Privet Drive would be so full of letters when they got back that he'd be able to steal one somehow.**

"Yeah, he'll get one somehow"

**Three minutes to go. Was that the sea, slapping hard on the rock like that**

"Probably not."

**And (two minutes to go) what was that funny crunching noise?**

"your son sure likes to watch the time go by, Prongs."

"if you know what's good for you, no more cracks about me or my son," warned James.

"I was just saying …"

**Was the rock crumbling into the sea?**

"Hope not."

**One minute to go and he'd be eleven. Thirty seconds ... twenty seconds ... ten - nine - maybe he'd wake Dudley up, just to annoy him **

"Yeah! Do it, Do it, Do it,"

"Sirius shut up!" Remus yelled, "can I at least get a whole line out?"

But Sirius had started to chant again, so Remus sighed and silenced him. "Look what you've made me do now!"

'I'll get you for this,' Sirius wrote in the air with his wand. 'All three of you!'

They just laughed and ignored him.

**three - two - one -BOOM.**

Sirius spelled out BOOM with his wand.

**The whole shack shivered and Harry sat bolt upright, staring at the door. Someone was outside, knocking to come in.**

"Hah. You might as well pay up now, Moony. That's definitely someone coming to give him his letter."

"Not necessarily," said Remus, though he didn't look like he believed himself.

'Well go on Remus! Who is it?' wrote Sirius.

Remus laughed. "You missed a comma, Padfoot." Sirius glared at him.

'Answer the question comma then!' wrote Sirius.

"Don't know. That's the end of the chapter," said Remus, laughing.

'MY TURN!' Sirius wrote in capital letter. 'take off the damn charm so I can read!'

"Uh uh, you missed a capital letter!" teased James.

That pushed Sirius over the edge, and he jumped on top of James. He was caught by surprise, and Sirius got the advantage. He made a face that clearly said, don't mock me.

James grunted and pushed Sirius off.

"Should I, Lily?" he asked.

"Fine," she sighed. "He has to get this over with or he'll be complaining for ages." Sirius nodded in agreement. James cursed under his breath and lifted the charm.

"Git," said Sirius immediately.

"But it was Moony who put it on you!"

"Yeah, well you wouldn't take it off!"

"Neither would he!"

"Fine. You're both gits! Happy?"

"Yes I am, actually," said James.

**A/N there you go. Another chapter. Hope you liked it … now R-E-V-I-E-W!**


	4. UhOh it's Sirius Reading

"So who d'you think it is?" asked Sirius.

"If you just read, Padfoot, we'll find out," said Remus slowly, as though he were talking to a child.

**The Keeper of the keys**

"HAGRID!"they all yelled happily.

**BOOM!**

"For the love of Merlin, Sirius, do you have to _shout?" _yelled Remus

"well, I read it like it is in the book. And that's how it is!"

**They knocked again. Dudley jerked awake.**

"Shame Harry didn't get a chance to wake him up," said Sirius in a mock-sad voice.

**"Where's the canon?" he said stupidly.**

"Canons are cool. We should get one! Or we could make one!"

"How d'you know what a canon is?" asked James.

"Well, I _did _take Muggle Studies."

"But I thought you didn't listen," said Lily.

"Well, not to the boring parts. But the cool stuff I pay attention to," he said grinning.

**There was a crash behind them and Uncle Vernon came skidding into the room. He was holding a rifle in his hands.**

"So that's what he bought" Lily said aloud

"What's a rifle?" asked James. To everyone's surprise, it was Sirius that answered.

"Long things that shoot out these bullets, which kill people."

"Sounds nasty," said Remus.

"Sounds pretty cool to me," said James.

"Well, you didn't grow up a muggle. You don't know how they use them," said Lily, suddenly very serious. "It's horrible!" James had enough sense to look ashamed. Sirius didn't.

**Now they knew what had been in the long, thin package he had brought with them.**

**"Who's there?" he shouted. "I warn you - I'm armed!"**

"Armed? Of course he has arms!" said Sirius.

"That's not what armed means! It means he has a weapon," said Lily.

**There was a pause. Then -**

**SMASH!**

"PADFOOT!"

"what?"

"stop shouting the words!"

**The door was hit with such force that it swung clean off its hinges and with a deafening crash landed flat on the floor. A giant of a man was standing in the doorway.**

"Hagrid," said James happily." He'll tell Harry all about Hogwarts. Give me my five galleons, Moony!"

"Not yet!"

**His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane**

"It's a lion man!" said Sirius, grinning.

**of hair and a wild tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair. The giant squeezed his way into the hut, stooping so that his head just brushed the ceiling. He bent down, picked up the door and fitted it easily back into its frame. The noise of the storm outside dropped a little. He turned to look at them all.**

**"Couldn't make a cup o' tea could yeh? It's not been an easy journey ..."**

"Hagrid says the weirdest things sometimes," grinned Remus.

**He strode over to the sofa where Dudley sat frozen with fear.**

"Or maybe he really froze," said James hopefully.

**"Budge up, yeh great lump," said the stranger.**

They all snickered.

"Hagrid's just met Dudley and he already doesn't like him," said Lily cheerfully.

**Dudley squeaked and ran to hide behind his mother,**

"Like he'd fit there," snorted Sirius.

**who was crouching, terrified behind Uncle Vernon.**

"That explains it. Vernon would be big enough to hide both," said Sirius.

"Even Dudley?" asked James skeptically.

"Stop interrupting!" yelled Lily.

"It's not interrupting when I'm the one that's reading!"

**"An' here's Harry!" said the giant.**

**Harry looked up into the fierce, wild, shadowy face and saw that the beetle eyes were crinkled in a smile.**

**"Las' time I saw you, you was only a baby," said the giant. "Yeh look a lot like yeh dad, but yeh've got yer mum's eyes."**

They both beamed.

**Uncle Vernon made a funny rasping noise.**

"Choke!Choke!" yelled Sirius.

**"I demand that you leave at once, sir!" he said. "You are breaking and entering!"**

"So?" said James.

**"Ah, shut up, Dursley, yeh great prune," said the giant.**

"More like a watermelon. Yeah, he'd make an excellent watermelon. Though it might taste a bit like pork," said Sirius thoughtfully.

"Do you even think?" asked Lily. "The things you come up with!"

Sirius shrugged and continued.

**He reached over the back of the sofa, jerked the gun out of Uncle Vernon's hands, bent it into a knot as easily as if it had been made of rubber,**

"HAH!"

**and threw it into a corner of the room.**

**Uncle Vernon made another funny noise, like a mouse being trodden on.**

"That would be nice. Turn him into a mouse and trod on him, Hagrid!" the others stared.

**"Anyway - Harry," said the giant, turning his back on the Dursleys, "a very happy birthday to yeh. Got summat fer yeh here - I mighta sat on it at some point,**

They laughed.

"Oh Hagrid."

**but it'll taste all right."**

**From an inside pocket of his black overcoat he pulled a slightly squashed box. Harry opened it with trembling fingers. Inside was a large, sticky chocolate cake with Happy Birthday Harry written on it in green icing**

"Again with the green!" complained Sirius. Red would be so much better!"

"Just read the damn book, Sirius!" said Remus tiredly.

**Harry looked up at the giant. He meant to say thank you, but the words got lost on the way to his mouth,**

"Hagrid has that effect on people," said Sirius.

**and what he said instead was, "Who are you?"**

"Where are your manners, son?" asked Lily.

"Do you seriously think that your sister taught our son _manners_?" asked James incredulously. "Look at her own son!" Lily sighed. "You're right."

**The giant chuckled.**

**"True, I haven't introduced meself. Rubeus Hagrid, Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."**

"Alright, Moony. He's told him about Hogwarts. Give me my money!"

"NO! just wait until he's told him."

"He practically has already. Do you think Hagrid would show up and not tell him all about Hogwarts? Just let him live without knowing? EXACTLY! Now, my money!" demanded James.

Remus sighed and gave in. "Here, you stupid deer," he added under his breath.

"I heard that Moony. And it hurt!"

"Remind me never to make any more bets with you."

"Now where's the fun in that?"

**He held out an enormous hand and shook Harry's whole arm.**

"I remember when he did that to me" James muttered "my arm went numb"

**"What about that tea then, eh?" he said, rubbing his hands together. "I'd not say no ter summat stronger if yeh've got it, mind."**

They laughed at that.

**His eyes fell on the empty grate with the shrivelled crisp packets in it and he snorted. He bent down over the fireplace; they couldn't see what he was doing but when he drew back a second later, there was a roaring fire.**

"But Hagrid's not allowed to use magic out of school! Same as us!" said Lily.

"Who cares? Would you rather they freeze to death?"

**It filled the whole damp hut with flickering light and Harry felt the warm rush over him as though he'd sunk into a hot bath.**

"I like baths," said Sirius. They gave him more odd looks. Lily shook her head.

**The giant sat back down on the sofa, which sagged under his weight, and began taking all sorts of things out of the pockets of his coat: a copper kettle, a squashy packet of sausages, a poker, a teapot, several chipped mugs**

"Merlin that's a lot of junk! Who takes that around with them?"

**and a bottle of some amber liquid which he took a swig from before starting to make tea.**

"Hagrid!" Lily said shocked, the others simply grinned

**Soon the hut was full of the sound and smell of sizzling sausage.**

"I like sausage," said Sirius, his mouth watering a bit.

"Eww. Padfoot you're drooling!"

"Well, that's just the dog in me!"

"I prefer rare steaks," said Remus.

"Well, you would!"

**Nobody said a thing while the giant was working, but as he slid the first six fat, juicy, slightly burnt sausages from the poker,**

"Control yourself, Paddy!"

"I'm hungry!"

"That's your fault for skipping dinner to make out with your girlfriend!"

Sirius grinned as he recalled the thought. Lily gave him a reproving look.

**Dudley fidgeted a little.**

**Uncle Vernon said sharply, "Don't touch anything he gives you, Dudley."**

"Dudley wouldn't listen."

**The giant chuckled darkly. "Yer great puddin' of a son don' need fattenin' any more, Dursley, don' worry."**

"Nice one, Hagrid!"

"So true. Harry need to eat some more!"

**He passed the sausages to Harry, who was so hungry he had never tasted anything so wonderful, but he still couldn't take his eyes off the giant.**

"He is somewhat of an odd sight, isn't he?"

**Finally, as nobody seemed about to explain anything, he said, "I'm sorry, but I still don't really know who you are."The giant took a gulp of tea and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.**

"See moony, he's going to tell him about Hogwarts! I was right!" huffed James. Remus growled at him playfully.

**"Call me Hagrid," he said, "everyone does. An' like I told yeh, I'm Keeper of Keys at Hogwarts - yeh'll know all about Hogwarts, o' course.**

"No, he doesn't. It's your job to tell him, Hagrid. Go on," urged Sirius.

"Just read!"

**Er - no," said Harry.**

**Hagrid looked shocked."Sorry," Harry said quickly.**

"It's them that should be sorry, Harry!" said James.

**"Sorry?" barked Hagrid, turning to stare at the Dursleys, who shrank back into the shadows. "It's them as should be sorry!**

James blinked. "Now Hagrid?" he said weakly. Sirius burst out laughing.

**I knew yeh weren't gettin' yer letters but I never thought yeh wouldn't even know abou' Hogwarts, fer cryin' out loud! Did yeh never wonder where yer parents learnt it all?"**

**"All what?" asked Harry.**

"Oh, I can't listen to this," said James dramatically.

**"ALL WHAT?"**

"Sirius! You _don't_ need to yell" Remus cried, rubbing his ears

Sirius made a face at him and read on.

**Hagrid thundered. **"See. If he's thundering it, I can't exactly say it in a quiet voice. I have to SHOUT IT!" he said, shouting out the last to words.

**"Now wait jus' one second!"**

**He had leapt to his feet. In his anger he seemed to fill the whole hut. The Dursleys were cowering against the wall.**

"Yeah. Hagrid has a temper."

**"Do you mean ter tell me," he growled at the Dursleys, "that this boy - this boy - knows nothing abou' - about ANYTHING?"**

"Don't make Harry feel stupid, Hagrid!" said Lily.

"You know, this isn't the right chapter for Sirius to be reading. It has all the shouting."

"If I was reading this I would do the same," said James cheekily.

**Harry thought this was going a bit far.**

**He had been to school, after all, and his marks weren't bad.**

"That's not what he means, Harry," said Lily softly.

**"I know some things," he said. "I can, you know, do maths and stuff.**

**But Hagrid simply waved his hand and said, "About our world, I mean. Your world. My world. Yer parents' world."**

**"What world?"**

"The boy really doesn't know anything," said James dramatically.

"Enough drama, James," said Lily.

**Hagrid looked as if he was about to explode.**

Remus quickly Silenced Sirius and read.

**"DURSLEY!" he boomed.**

Sirius looked hurt as Remus lifted the spell.

"Don't look at me like that! My ears need a rest." James was rolling on the floor laughing. Lily was laughing in her seat.

**Uncle Vernon, who had gone very pale, whispered something that sounded like 'Mimblewimble**

"Wasn't that the password when we just started this year?" asked Sirius.

"No, it was a week after. I remember cause old Ludo slept outside the common room because he forgot it," said James, grinning.

"Oh yeah," said Sirius, laughing.

"Can you believe he became captain of the team, not me!" said James.

"Well, it's his last year, mate. You'll be captain next year! I'm actually surprised that he didn't become captain sooner, he's so good!"

"Nah, Roger Wood was way better than him. Bossy captain, mind, but really good player. Shame he's left now," said James.

"Don't worry, we'll still win!"

"Guys?" said Lily." Sorry to interrupt your little quidditch conversation, but … the BOOK?"

**Hagrid stared wildly at Harry."But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."**

"Hear that, we're famous!"

**"What? My - my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"**

"And my son doesn't even know it!"

"**Yeh don' know ... yeh don' know ..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare. Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally.**

**Uncle Vernon suddenly found his voice.**

"Bad timing."

**"Stop!" he commanded. "Stop right there, sir! I forbid you to tell the boy anything!"**

"Yeah, like that'll stop him!"

**A braver man than Vernon Dursley would have quailed under the furious look Hagrid now gave him; when Hagrid spoke, his every syllable trembled with rage.**

**"You never told him? Never told him what was in the letter Dumbledore left fer him?**

"What _was _in that letter?" asked James.

"Don't know. The book didn't tell us."

**I was there! I saw Dumbledore leave it, Dursley! An' you've kept it from him all these years?"**

**"Kept what from me?" said Harry eagerly.**

"Yeah Harry, ask questions! Learn everything!"

Remus looked at the next words and silenced Sirius yet again. Sirius made a face.

**STOP! I FORBID YOU!" yelled Uncle Vernon in panic.**

"Now if you stopped shouting, I wouldn't have to keep silencing you!"

"Some friend," muttered Sirius.

**Aunt Petunia gave a gasp of horror. **

"**Ah, go boil yer heads, both of yeh," said Hagrid.**

"Boil their heads?" said James incredulously. "What does that mean?"

**"Harry - yer a wizard."**

**There was a silence inside the hut.**

It was the complete opposite in the Room of Requirement. "YES!" they all screamed. Sirius and James jumped out and did a little celebratory dance. They sent mini fireworks out of their wands and started cheering.

After about ten minutes of this, Sirius started to read again.

**Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard."I'm a what?"**

"A wizard," said James happily.

**"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin good'un I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? **

Lily and James beamed with pride

**An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."**

"Finally!"

**Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea.**

"What if you were in the toilet?"asked Sirius. "Would the letter say, 'MR. Whatever, The Toilet, Wherever, Wherever?'"

"I don't know," said Remus in an exasperated voice.

"The things you come up with, Sirius!" said Lily.

"You've already said that, Lily."

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**

**Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore**

**(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc Chr. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump,**

"What's a Mugwump?"

"Does it really matter, Padfoot?"

**International Confed. of Wizards)**

**Dear Mr. Potter,**

**We are pleased to inform you that you have a place at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.**

**Yours sincerely,**

**Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress**

"That's exactly what mine said," commented James. Word-for-word!"

"Well … DUH! You're both Mr. Potter! Idiot!"

**Questions exploded inside Harry's head like fireworks**

"Imagine that. Fireworks in someone's head!" said Sirius with a distant and dangerous look on his face.

**and he couldn't decide which to ask first. After a few minutes he stammered, "What does it mean, they await my owl?"**

"that's the question he chose?" asked Sirius disbelievingly. "Of all the stuff he could have asked … he asks about _owls?"_

"**Gallopin' Gorgons, that reminds me," said Hagrid, clapping a hand to his forehead with enough force to knock over a cart horse, and from yet another pocket inside his overcoat he pulled out an owl -** **a real, live, rather ruffled-looking owl**

"He shoved a poor owl in there?" asked Lily.

"Poor thing. Wonder what being inside one of Hagrid's coat's pockets," said Sirius. They stared at him, fearing for his sanity.

**a long quill and a roll of parchment. With his tongue between his teeth he scribbled a note which Harry could read upside down**

"I can barely read his writing the right way round!" said James.

_**Dear Mr. Dumbledore  
Given Harry his letter. Taking him to buy his things tomorrow. Weather's horrible. Hope you're well.  
Hagrid.**_

"Heh, and a very long detailed note from Hagrid," James said

**Hagrid rolled up the note, gave it to the owl, which clamped it in its beak, went to the door and threw the owl out into the storm.**

"That's nice."

**Then he came back and sat down as though this was normal as talking on the telephone.**

"No," said Sirius." It's more normal than that."

**Harry realized his mouth was open and closed it quickly.**

**"Where was I?" said Hagrid, but at that moment, Uncle Vernon, still ashen-faced but looking very angry, moved into the firelight.**

**"He's not going," he said.**

"I'd like to see a Muggle like him try to stop him!" growled James.

**Hagrid grunted."I'd like ter see a great Muggle like you stop him," he said.**

Sirius fell about laughing as James blinked yet again. He shook his head and decided not to say anything else.

"**A what?" said Harry, interested.**

**"A Muggle," said Hagrid. "It's what we call non-magic folk like them. An' it's your bad luck you grew up in a family o' the biggest Muggles I ever laid eyes on."**

"Too right" Remus muttered

**"We swore when we took him in we'd put a stop to that rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "swore we'd stamp it out of him! Wizard, indeed!"**

"Rubbish?" That's not rubbish!" yelled Lily indignantly. "You should've seen Petunia when I found out I was a witch! She was dying to be one too!"

**"You knew?" said Harry. "You knew I'm a - a wizard?"**

"Of course she did! Her sister was one!" James said

**"Knew!" shrieked Aunt Petunia suddenly."Knew! Of course we knew! How could you not be, my dratted sister being what she was?**

"Hey!" said both Lily and James.

**Oh, she got a letter just like that and disappeared off to that - that school - and came home every holiday with her pockets full of frog-spawn**

"She remembers that?"

**turning teacups into rats.**

"You did magic out of school?"

"Yeah. They allowed me to show my family how it works, show I'm not wasting my time and that it's not all a giant scam or anything."

"Seems fair," said Remus.

"I also turned all her clothes pink. Suited her. But she was maaaaad!" Lily laughed. The boys were shocked that she'd do something like that.

"Don't give me that look! Judging by how she's going to treat my son, she deserves a lot worse! Besides, I changed them back to normal! Well … most of them." She grinned evilly.

**I was the only one who saw her for what she was - a freak!**

"I am not a freak!" Lily yelled at the same time James yelled "She is not a freak!"

**But for my mother and father, oh no, it was Lily this and Lily that, they were proud of having a witch in the family!"**

"Jealous much?" snorted James.

**She stopped to draw a deep breath and then went ranting on. It seemed like she had been wanting to say all this for years.** **"Then she met that Potter at school**

"'that potter' am I?" James said furiously, squashing the stress ball that had been forgotten on the floor.

**and they left and got married and had you,** **and of course I knew you'd be the same, just as strange, just as - as abnormal**

"You're the damn abnormal ones! You're the freaks!"

"James," warned Remus. "Calm down, James."

**- and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up**

"Does she think we wanted that?" yelled Lily across Sirius.

"I am going to _murder _her!"

Sirius seemed scared to go on, but at a small nod from Remus, he reluctantly continued.

**and we got landed with you!"**

"Trust me," snorted James, "we'd rather he lived with _Peter_ than with you."

**Harry had gone very white.** **As soon as he found his voice he said, "Blown up? You told me they died in a car crash!"**

"NO WE DID NOT!" James an Lily bellowed at the same time

**"CAR CRASH!" roared Hagrid,**

Sirius was so affected by Lily and James' outbursts that he forgot to yell the words out.

**jumping so angrily that the Dursleys scuttled back to their corner. "How could a car crash kill Lily an' James Potter?**

"Exactly! It couldn't!" Lily said

**It's an outrage! A scandal! Harry Potter not knowin' his own story when every kid in our world knows his name!"**

**"But why? What happened?" Harry asked urgently.**

A tear trickled down Lily's face. James sighed and sat back down, not knowing when he and Lily had even stood up.

**The anger faded from Hagrid's face. He looked suddenly anxious."I never expected this," he said in a low, worried voice. "I had no idea, when Dumbledore told me there might be trouble gettin' hold of yeh, how much yeh didn't know. Ah, Harry, I don' know if I'm the right person ter tell yeh - but someone's gotta - yeh can't go off ter Hogwarts not knowin**

"Mmmm, can you imagine?" Remus muttered. "Everyone knowing about him … except _him."_

**He threw a dirty look at the Dursleys.**

"**Well, it's best yeh know as much as I can tell yeh - mind, I can't tell yeh everythin', it's a great myst'ry, parts of it ..."**

Everyone's full attention was on the words coming out of Sirius' mouth right now. All of them eagerly wanted to know.

**He sat down, stared into the fire for a few seconds and then said, "It begins, I suppose, with - with a person called - but it's incredible yeh don't know his name, everyone in our world knows -"**

"Voldemort" everyone said.

"**Who?"**

**"Well - I don' like sayin' the name if I can help it. No one does."**

"We don't care" James said bluntly.

"Exactly. GO on, Hagrid. Harry needs to know the name," said Lily.

**"Why not?"**

**"Gulpin' gargoyles, Harry, people are still scared.**

"Why? He's been gone for like ten years, hasn't he?"

**Blimey, this is difficult. See, there was this wizard who went ... bad.**

"Understatement of the century, but go on," said James.

**As bad as you could go. Worse. Worse than worse. His name was ..."**

**Hagrid gulped, but no words came out.**

"Come on Hagrid!" Remus urged "He has to know!"

"Just say Voldemort," said James at the same time.

**"Could you write it down?" Harry suggested.**

**"Nah - can't spell it.**

They allowed themselves to laugh a bit at that.

**All right - Voldemort."**

"Yes," they all said, though not quite the same way in which they had said it when Hagrid had first mentioned Hogwarts … obviously.

**Hagrid shuddered. "Don' make me say it again. Anyway, this - this wizard, about twenty years ago now, started lookin' fer followers. Got 'em, too - some were afraid, some just wanted a bit o' his power, 'cause he was gettin' himself power, all right. Dark days, Harry. Didn't know who ter trust, didn't dare get friendly with strange wizards or witches ... Terrible things happened. He was takin' over. 'Course, some stood up to him - an' he killed 'em. Horribly. One o' the only safe places left was Hogwarts. Reckon Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was afraid of.**

"yeah, that's true."

**Didn't dare try takin' the school, not jus' then, anyway.**

"He hasn't touched Hogwarts," agreed James.

**"Now, yer mum an' dad were as good a witch an' wizard as I ever knew.**

James and Lily smiled , but it was not their normal smile. It was much sadder.

**Head Boy an' Girl at Hogwarts in their day**

"Wha –what?" James stuttered, utterly shocked. Lily, on the other hand, was positively radiant.

"You traitor!" said Sirius!" The Marauders are not allowed to become Prefects or Headboys!"

James shrugged, laughing. This is what they needed to cheer everyone up.

"Dumbledore must've lost it," said Remus.

"Or he could have grown out of it," Lily pointed out. Sirius and Remus burst out laughing. She gave them a reproachful look.

"B - by next y - year, Lily? No chance!" Sirius gasped; he was laughing so hard that tears were appearing at his eyes.

James whacked him and Remus on the head.

"I could so grow up!"

"Could not!"

"Could too!"

"Could not!"

"Enough! Back to the book, Sirius. Please," said Lily, half-amused, half-angry.

**Suppose the myst'ry is why You-Know-Who never tried to get 'em on his side before ...**

"Like we'd ever join his side!" Lily said.

"I'd rather die," growled James.

"There's a better chance of Prongs growing up than there is of him becoming a Death Eater!" Sirius exclaimed.

James jumped on top of his and they began fighting. Remus went in and pulled them both out of it by the scruffs of their necks.

"Enough! Back. To. The. Book!"

**probably knew they were too close ter Dumbledore ter want anythin' ter do with the Dark Side. Maybe he thought he could persuade 'em ... maybe he just wanted 'em outta the way. All anyone knows is, he turned up in the village where you was all living, on Halloween ten years ago. You was just a year old.**

They were all sitting silently, listening, hardly even breathing.

**He came ter yer house an' - an' -"**

James blinked furiously in an effort not to cry, but he couldn't manage. With Lily's head on his shoulder, they both began to sob softly.

James managed no nod to Sirius to tell him to continue.

**Hagrid suddenly pulled out a very dirty, spotted handkerchief and blew his nose with the sound of a foghorn."Sorry," he said. "But it's that sad - knew yer mum an' dad, an' nicer people yeh couldn't find**

Watery smiles appeared on their faces.

Even Sirius seemed to be choking back tears. Remus had a lone tear streaking down his face.

**anyway - You-Know-Who killed 'em. An' then - an' this is the real myst'ry of the thing - he tried to kill you,**

James looked murderously at the book, no longer crying, but his eyes were still a little bloodshot.

**too. Wanted ter make a clean job of it, I suppose, or maybe he just liked killin' by then.**

**But he couldn't do it. Never wondered how you got that mark on yer forehead? That was no ordinary cut. That's what yeh get when a powerful, evil curse touches yeh -took care of yer mum an' dad an' yer house, even - but it didn't work on you, an' that's why yer famous, Harry.**

**No one ever lived after he decided to kill 'em, no one except you, an' he'd killed some o' the best witches an' wizards of the age - the McKinnons,**

Lily straightened up. "Oh Merlin, not Marly too!"

Sirius frowned. "I've heard that name. Oh Christ. She's in our year, isn't she?"

"Yes. She's in my dorm," sobbed Lily.

**the Bones**

"Edgar," said James sadly.

"Or Susan … " added Lily sadly. They were brother and sister. A year above and below the Marauders.

**the Prewetts**

"Daniel," sighed Lily.

"Who?" asked Sirius.

"He's two years below us, in fourth. Ravenclaw. He asked me for directions his first day. He's a nice guy," she said.

**- an' you was only a baby an' you lived."**

**Something very painful was going on inside Harry's mind.**

**As Hagrid's story came to a close, he saw again the blinding flash of green light, more clearly than he had ever remembered it before - and he remembered something else, for the first time in his life - a high, cold, cruel, laugh.**

"Voldemort," James muttered under his breath, followed by several curses he wished to throw at Voldemort.

**Hagrid was watching him sadly.**

**"Took yer from the ruined House myself, on Dumbledore's orders. Brought yeh ter this lot ..."**

**"Load of old tosh," said Uncle Vernon.**

"Shut up. Just … Just shut up, Dursley."

**Harry jumped; he had almost forgotten that the Dursleys were there. Uncle Vernon certainly seemed to have got back his courage. He was glaring at Hagrid and his fists were clenched.**

**"Now you listen here, boy," he snarled. "I accept there's something strange about you, probably nothing a good beating wouldn't have cured **

"You touch Harry and I'll come back from the dead to kill you!"

**and as for all this about your parents, well, they were weirdoes, no denying it,**

"I'll join you" Lily snapped

**and the world's better off without them in my opinion **

"I'll help," said Remus, eyes flashing amber.

"Maybe around the full moon …" said Sirius. "I'll help as well."

**asked for all they got, getting mixed up with all these wizarding types - just what I expected, always knew they'd come to a sticky end - "**

"Just keep talking … and you'll come to a sticky end yourself!" growled Sirius.

**But at that moment, Hagrid leapt up from the sofa and drew a battered pink umbrella from inside his coat.**

**Pointing this at Uncle Vernon like a sword, he said, "I'm warning you, Dursley - I'm warning you - one more word ..."**

**In danger of being speared on the end of an umbrella by a bearded giant, Uncle Vernon's courage failed again; he flattened himself against the wall and fell silent.**

**"That's better," said Hagrid breathing heavily and sitting back down on the sofa, which this time sagged right down to the floor.**

They all relaxed a bit in the Room of Requirement.

**Harry, meanwhile, still had questions to ask, hundreds of them.**

**"But what happened to Vol- sorry - I mean, You-Know-Who?"**

"it's all right to say his name, Harry!" said James.

"Not in front of Hagrid! He hates it when anyone says the name."

**"Good question, Harry. Disappeared. Vanished. Same night he tried ter kill you. Makes yeh even more famous. That's the biggest myst'ry, see ... he was gettin' more an' more powerful - why'd he go? Some say he died.**

"I hope so" Lily said

"Doubt it though" Remus muttered

**Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die.**

"What's that supposed to mean?"

**Some say he's still out there, bidin' his time, like, but I don' believe it. People who were on his side came back ter ours. Some of 'em came outta kinda trances. Don' reckon they **

**could've done if he was comin' back. Most of us reckon he's still out there somewhere but lost his powers. Too weak to carry on.**

"That'll be what happened," said Remus quietly.

**'Cause somethin' about you finished him, Harry. There was somethin' goin' on that night he hadn't counted on - I dunno what it was, no one does - but somethin' about you stumped him, all right."**

"Some kid you got, Prongs," said Sirius.

**Hagrid looked at Harry with warmth and respect blazing in his eyes, but Harry, instead of feeling pleased and proud, felt quite sure there had been a horrible mistake.**

**A wizard? Him? How could he possibly be? He'd spent his life being clouted by Dudley and bullied by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon;**

James picked up the fallen stress ball and squeezed it.

"Doesn't work that well," he mumbled, throwing it to Sirius.

**if he was really a wizard, why hadn't they been turned into warty toads every time they'd tried to lock him in his cupboard?**

James growled

**If he'd once defeated the greatest sorcerer in the world, how come Dudley had always been able to kick him around like a football?**

He growled some more.

**"Hagrid," he said quietly, "I think you must have made a mistake. I don't think I can be a wizard."**

"See what these people have done to my son!"

**To his surprise, Hagrid chuckled. "Not a wizard, eh? Never made things happen when you were scared or angry?"**

**Harry looked into the fire. Now he came to think about it ... every odd thing that had ever happened when he, Harry, had been upset or angry ... chased by Dudley's gang, he had somehow found himself out of their reach ...**

"Yeah!" Sirius said, a bit happier "He apparated! It's amazing that he could do that, and he wasn't even eleven yet!"

**dreading going to school with that ridiculous haircut, he'd managed to make it grow back ...**

"Well, no one can beat the potter hair," James mused.

**And the very last time Dudley had hit him, hadn't he got his revenge, without even realizing he was doing it? Hadn't he set a boa constrictor on him?**

"Yeah, I loved that" James said, positively happy now.

**Harry looked back at Hagrid, smiling, and saw that Hagrid was positively beaming at him."See?" said Hagrid. "Harry Potter, not a wizard - you wait, you'll be right famous at Hogwarts."**

"Hogwart!" Sirius cried.

**But Uncle Vernon wasn't going to give in without a fight. "Haven't I told you he's not going?" he hissed. "He's going to Stonewall High and he'll be grateful for it. I've read those letters and he needs all sorts of rubbish - spell books and wands and - "**

"If my son wants to go the likes of Vernon Dursley couldn't stop him!" yelled James.

"**If he wants ter go, a great Muggle like you won't stop him," growled Hagrid. "Stop Lily an' James Potter's son goin' ter Hogwarts! Yer mad. His name's been down ever since he was born. He's off ter the finest school of witchcraft and wizardry in the world. Seven years there and he won't know himself. He'll be with youngsters of his own sort, fer a change, an' he'll be under the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts ever had, Albus Dumbled - "**

"Yeah!" they all shouted.

**"I AM NOT PAYING FOR SOME CRACKPOT OLD FOOL TO TEACH HIM MAGIC TRICKS!" yelled Uncle Vernon.**

"Uh-oh … "said James.

"SIRIUS!" yelled Remus. "I thought you were done with all the shouting!"

**But he had finally gone too far. Hagrid seized his umbrella and whirled over his head.**

This time Lily Silenced Sirius, and motioned for Remus, who was closest to Sirius, to read the next few words.

**"NEVER -" he thundered, "- INSULT - ALBUS - DUMBLEDORE - IN - FRONT - OF - ME!"**

"Told you," said James as Lily lifted the spell.

Sirius read moodily.

**He brought the umbrella swishing down through the air to point at Dudley**

"YES!"

"Turn him into a pig!" Sirius cried.

"He's not going to turn him into a pig!"

**There was a flash of violet light, a sound like a firecracker, a sharp squeal and next second, Dudley was dancing on the spot with his hands clasped over his fat bottom, howling in pain.**

"What'd he do? What'd he do!" cried James.

**When he turned his back on them, Harry saw a curly pig's tail poking through a hole in his trousers.**

They fell about laughing, clutching their sides.

"I –I t-told you he'd t – t turn him into a – a pi – pig!" gasped Sirius between laughs.

James was rolling on the floor, holding his stomach. "I can't breathe," he gasped, laughing.

Lily laughed even harder at this, though it did not seem possible.

When at last they sobered up, which took at least 20 minutes, Sirius continued to read.

**Uncle Vernon roared. Pulling Aunt Petunia and Dudley into the other room, he cast one last terrified look at Hagrid and slammed the door behind them.**

**Hagrid looked down at his umbrella and stroked his beard.**

**"Shouldn'ta lost me temper," he said ruefully, "but it didn't work anyway. Meant ter turn him into a pig**

Renewed laughter filled the room, but more controlled this time.

**but I suppose he was so much like a pig anyway there wasn't much left ter do."**

"Tell him to stop, my lungs are gonna explode!" yelled James.

**He cast a sideways look at Harry under his bushy eyebrows.**

"**Be grateful if yeh didn't mention that ter anyone at Hogwarts," he said. "I'm - er - not supposed ter do magic, strictly speakin'. I was allowed ter do a bit ter follow yeh an' get yer letters to yeh an' stuff - one o' the reasons I was so keen ter take on the job -"**

**"Why aren't you supposed to do magic?" asked Harry.**

**"Oh, well - I was at Hogwarts meself but I - er - got expelled, ter tell yeh the truth. In me third year.**

"Why was he expelled?" asked Sirius.

Remus looked thoughtful for a while then replied, "Some things are better left untold." Lily raised her eyebrows but didn't pursue the subject.

**They snapped me wand in half an' everything. But Dumbledore let me stay on as gamekeeper. Great man, Dumbledore."**

**"Why were you expelled?"**

"We just covered that," said Sirius.

"Another three galleons says that Hagrid changes the subject and doesn't tell him," said James.

Remus and Sirius exchanged glances, and both nodded. Remus muttered a silent spell, and James was bound.

"Hey!" he yelled indignantly. With another swish, he was silenced as well.

"Would you care to make a bet?" asked Remus to Sirius.

James frowned.

"Sure Moony. Three galleons says that Hagrid changes the subject."

"Done," said Remus.

"Drum roll please," joked Lily.

"What?"

"It's something to sort of build suspense. Sounds like this," and she drummed her hands on her leg.

**"It's gettin' late and we've got lots ter do tomorrow," said Hagrid loudly.**

"HAH! Give me my three!"

"Gladly," replied Remus, looking pointedly at James as he handed over the money. James stuck his tongue out, then turned to look hopefully at Lily, who just shrugged.

**"Gotta get up ter town, get all yer books an' that."**

**He took off his thick black coat and threw it to Harry."You can kip under that, he said. "Don't' mind if it wriggles a bit, I think I still got a couple o' dormice in one o' the pockets."**

"Ew!" said Lily.

"That's the end of the chapter," said Sirius.

"Okay, let's go back to the common room, it's almost nine," said Lily.

The three of them got up to leave, then James started wriggling like mad.

"Should we free him?" asked Remus. Lily nodded. Remus lifted both charms and James immediately hit both the boys on their heads.

"Some friends you are!"

**A/N another chapter finished … but I'm afraid this might be the last one for a while. I won't be able to update as often. Easter hols are finished, and I won't have enough time. But I might get one done for tomorrow.**

**Thanks to ****CalmB4Storm for adding me to their author alerts, and to ****my wonderful reviewers. The more you review, the faster I write!!**

**Zeinab **


	5. There Goes Your Wand!

Right, I forgot to do this in the last four chapters, but here it is …

**Disclaimer: **I don't own any of this, or anything to do with Harry Potter. All I own is my imagination, which made the reactions that you all love to read. XD

The stuff in bold is straight out of the Philosopher's Stone. Now that I've written that, I'm probably never going to do it again.

**A/N Look how fast this came! Thanks to TwilightSeraphim, ab35, Babylon Sky Hawk, Kira2667 and Kastille** **for adding me as a fave/to alerts, and to all my reviewers! Keep 'em coming and I'll keep writing!**

"Come on James, let's just read one more chapter!" pleaded Sirius.

"No Padfoot. We can't read without Lily. She's the one that found the book!"

"He's right, Padfoot," said Remus.

The three of them were sitting in their dorm room, with Peter nowhere in sight.

"We just read four chapters!"

"I know, but I want to read more!"

"Go to sleep," said James tiredly. "Tomorrow's Saturday. We can read then. We'll even go outside to read if the weather's good." Sirius moodily gave in.

The next morning the three of them woke up early, (which is not something the Marauders do very often) leaving Peter snoring alone. They waited in the common room for Lily, and within five minutes, she came down.

"Surprised you lot are up so early," she said.

"Well, it's hard to stay asleep with Peter snoring, and you wake up _someone_," James glared at Sirius, "hits you."

"What? I really wanted to read the book!"

"Shall we read outside, then?" Lily asked. They nodded and headed out eagerly, not even stopping for

breakfast.

When they were settled in under their favourite tree Sirius asked, "Can I go first?"

"NO!" the others yelled.

"I'll go first," said Remus, taking the book from James.

**Diagon Alley**

"YES!!" James cried "Harry's going to Diagon Alley!"

"Shh!" said Lily.

"Bet the first place they go is Gringotts!" exclaimed James, ignoring Lily.

**Harry woke early the next morning.**

"Same as us," said Sirius.

**Although he could tell it was daylight, he kept his eyes shut tight."It was a dream," he told himself firmly. "I dreamt a giant called Hagrid came to tell me I was going to a school for wizards.**

"Now why would he say that?"

**When I open my eyes I'll be at home in my cupboard."**

"Dursleys," mumbled James.

**There was suddenly a loud tapping noise.**

"Owl?" James suggested

**"And there's Aunt Petunia knocking on the door," **

"If it were her she would already be yelling at you," said Remus.

**Harry thought, his heart sinking. But he still hadn't opened his eyes. It had been such a good dream.**

**Tap. Tap. Tap.**

**"All right," Harry mumbled, "I'm getting up."**

**He sat up and Hagrid's heavy coat fell off him.**

"See, it's not a dream."

**The hut was full of sunlight, the storm was over, Hagrid himself was asleep on the collapsed sofa**

"So it collapsed," Sirius said gleefully.

**and there was an owl rapping its claw on the window, a newspaper held in its beak.Harry scrambled to his feet, so happy he felt as though a large balloon was swelling inside him.**

Sirius had that look on his face.

"No Padfoot," said Remus.

**He went straight to the window and jerked it open. The owl swooped in and dropped the newspaper on top of Hagrid,**

"The owl always does that to me!" Sirius muttered.

**who didn't wake up. The owl then fluttered to the floor and began to attack Hagrid's coat.**

**"Don't do that."**

"It wants money."

**Harry tried to wave the owl out of the way, but it snapped its beak fiercely at him and carried on savaging the coat.**

**"Hagrid!" said Harry loudly. "There's an owl -"**

**"Pay him," Hagrid grunted into the sofa.**

"See," said James.

"But he's not going to know how to pay him," said Lily.

**"What?"**

**"He wants payin fer deliverin' the paper. Look in the pockets."**

"He'll never find the right one in that mass," said Sirius.

"What?" Lily said surprised

"Have you seen his coat?" Sirius said, shocked "It's practically _made_ of pockets!"

**Hagrid's coat seemed to be made of nothing but pockets **

"See?"

**- bunches of keys, slug pellets, balls of string, mint humbugs, teabags ... finally, Harry pulled out a handful of strange-looking coins.**

"Good for him," said James.

**"Give him five Knuts," said Hagrid sleepily.**

**Knuts**

"How's he supposed to know what knuts are?" asked James.

**"The little bronze ones."**

"that's better," said James.

**Harry counted five little bronze coins and the owl held out its leg so he could put the money into a small leather pouch tied to it. Then it flew out through the open window.**

**Hagrid yawned loudly, sat up and stretched."Best be off, Harry, lots ter do today, gotta get up ter London an' buy all yer stuff fer school."**

"DIAGON ALLEY!" Sirius yelled

**Harry was turning over the wizard coins and looking at them. He had just thought of something which made him feel as though the happy balloon inside him had got a puncture.**

Sirius' eyes gleamed dangerously.

"NO PADFOOT! Don't even think about it," Remus said warningly.

"Too late," Sirius replied.

**"Um - Hagrid?"**

**"Mm?" said Hagrid, who was pulling on his huge boots.**

**"I haven't got any money**

"Don't insult us, Harry," said James. "We'll have left you some."

"The Potters are one of the richest families in magical Britain" Sirius said pointedly

"Really," asked Lily, surprised.

"Yup. The richest are the Malfoys,"

"No shock there,"

"Then there's us Blacks," Sirius made a face as he said it, "The Zabinis," another face, " Lestranges are pretty well off as well. There's also The Crouches. That's about it. James' family fits in somewhere around there."

"How on earth do you know that?" asked Lily, not used to Sirius knowing anything, really.

"My dearest mother made me and Reg learn all about The Noblest Blacks and other great wizarding families."

"Poor you! Having to learn all that nonsense! It's even worse than Social Studies!" said Lily.

"Worse than what?" asked James.

"Doesn't matter. Go on Remus."

**- and you heard Uncle Vernon last night - he won't pay for me to go to learn magic."**

"'Course not. He's a big fat git!"

**"Don't worry about that," said Hagrid, standing up and scratching his head. "D'ye think year parents didn't leave yeh anything?"**

"even if we didn't – which we did – Hogwarts lends money," said Lily.

**"But if their house was destroyed -"**

"What crazy people would keep gold in their home?" asked Sirius.

"Most muggles do that," Lily pointed out.

**"They didn't keep their gold in the house, boy! Nah, first stop fer us is Gringotts. Wizards' bank**

"Told ya," said James.

**Have a sausage, they're not bad cold**

"Way to change the topic" Sirius snorted

**an' I wouldn' say no teh a bit o' yer birthday cake, neither.**

**"Wizards have banks?"**

"DUH!"

"**Just the one. Gringotts. Run by goblins."**

"Goblins scare me," said Lily.

"Nah. They're cool. Live for ages more than humans. The one that took us to our safe my first time in Gringotts, Griphook, I think his name was, was really cool," said James. "Didn't talk much, mind, but showed us some cool stuff."

**Harry dropped the bit of sausage he was holding.**

"What a waste," mumbled Sirius.

"If you're hungry you should've eaten breakfast," said Remus. Sirius shrugged.

**"Goblins?"**

**"Yeah - so yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it, I'll tell yeh that. Never mess with goblins, Harry. Gringotts is the safest place in the world fer anything yeh want terkeep safe - **

"Except Hogwarts," corrected James.

**'cept maybe Hogwarts.**

"Huh?" said James.

**As a matter o' fact, gotta visit Gringotts anyway. Fer Dumbledore. Hogwarts business." Hagrid drew himself up proudly. "He usually gets me ter do important stuff fer him. Fetchin' you - gettin' things from Gringotts - knows he can trust me, see."**

"Wonder what this Hogwarts business is?"

**"Got everythin'? Come on, then."**

**Harry followed Hagrid out on to the rock. **

"How are they getting back?"

"You reckon Hagrid has a boat?"

**The sky was quite clear now and the sea gleamed in the sunlight. The boat Uncle Vernon had hired was still there, with a lot of water in the bottom after the storm.**

**"How did you get here?" Harry asked, looking around for another boat.**

**"Flew," said Hagrid.**

"_Flew?"_

"Hagrid doesn't fly!"

**"Flew?"**

**"Yeah - but we'll go back in this. Not s'pposed ter use magic now I've got yeh"**

"But how'd Hagrid fly there? It doesn't mention a broomstick," started Sirius.

"He's too big for one," interrupted James. "And your bike doesn't seem to be there."

Sirius smiled at the thought of his bike.

**They settled down in the boat, Harry still staring at Hagrid, trying to imagine him flying.**

"We are too Harry" James chuckled

**"Seems a shame ter row, though," said Hagrid, giving Harry another of his sideways looks. "If I was ter - er - speed things up a bit, would yeh mind not mentionin' it at Hogwarts?"**

**"Of course not," said Harry, eager to see more magic. Hagrid pulled out the pink umbrella again, tapped it twice on the side of the boat and they sped off towards land.**

**"Why would you be mad to try and rob Gringotts?" Harry asked.**

" You'll find out when you get there," said James.

**"Spells - enchantments," said Hagrid, unfolding his newspaper as he spoke. "They say there are dragons guardin' the high security vaults.**

"There are," said James. "I saw them on the way to my parents' vault."

**And then yeh gotta find yer way - Gringotts is hundreds of miles under London, see. Deep under the Underground. Yeh'd die of hunger tryin ter get out, even if yeh did manage ter get yer hands on summat."**

"Too true," Remus muttered.

**Harry sat and thought about this while Hagrid read his newspaper, the Daily Prophet. Harry had learnt from Uncle Vernon that people like to be left alone while they did this, but it was very difficult, he'd never had so many questions in his life**

"So ask!" James sighed "Hagrid won't mind"

**"Ministry o' Magic messin' things up as usual," Hagrid muttered, turning the page.**

"The Ministry's not that bad … " began Remus.

"Must be a new Minister, then," said James.

**"There's a Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked, before he could stop himself.**

"Of course! Harry thinks we're all uncivilized or something!" said Sirius.

**"'Course," said Hagrid. "They wanted Dumbledore fer Minister, o' course, **

"They always do"

"Surprised he hasn't accepted yet."

"Don't think he ever will," said Remus.

**but he'd never leave Hogwarts,**

"See," said Remus.

**so old Cornelius Fudge**

"FUDGE!" they all bellowed.

"That idiot! He was in Hufflepuff, right?"

"Yeah. He was in seventh when we were firsties."

"He was a right old idiot. Worse than Peter, that one!" said James.

"Well, if you can make Head Boy then there's hope for all of us," grinned Sirius.

James growled at him.

"Didn't we jinx his bowler hat to never come off his head until we removed the spell?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah," grinned Remus.

"In your first year," said Lily. "I'm impressed, even if you are idiots," she added.

"And proud of it," the three of them replied.

**got the job. Bungler if ever there was one.**

"truer words were never said," scoffed Sirius.

**So he pelts Dumbledore with owls every morning, askin fer advice."**

James snorted.

**"But what does a Ministry of Magic do?"**

**"Well, their main job is to keep it from the Muggles that there's still witches an' wizards up an' down the country."**

**"Why?"**

"Blimey, your son's not as smart as we pegged him to be," said Sirius.

"Watch what you say about my son," roared James.

"Excuse me?" asked a girl approaching them. "Your _son, _did you say?"

"Ah, hello Tonks," smiled Sirius. "Enjoying your first year at Hogwarts?"

"Mmhm," the little girl replied. "So what were you saying about your son, Jamie?"

"I told you to stop calling me that, _Nymphadora!"_said James.

"Oh look, you've got yourself a girlfriend," teased Tonks.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" asked Lily.

"She's my neice," answered Sirius.

"But I never call him _uncle_," Tonks added.

"Lily Evans, meet Nymphadora Tonks," said Sirius.

"Don't ever call me Nyphadora. Only mom calls me that. You can call me Tonks," she added sweetly to Lily. "So, what were you saying, James?"

"N – nothing," he said immediately.

"Don't lie to me!"

"It's just – we found this book."

"You guys are _reading?"_

"Look at it! It's about my son!" said James. Tonks looked at the book with interest. "Can I join this little reading group?"

They looked at Lily.

"What, is she the boss?"

"Yes," all of them replied.

"Sure you can join," said Lily. "Just catch up." And they explained everything so far.

"that's a lot to take in," said Tonks. The others laughed.

**Why? Blimey, Harry, everyone'd be wantin magic solutions to their problems. Nah, we're best left alone."**

**At this moment the boat bumped gently into the harbor wall. Hagrid folded up his newspaper and they clambered up the stone steps on to the street.** **Passers-by stared a lot at Hagrid as they walked through the little town**

Remus chuckled "Well they would, he's got to be twice their size! At least!"

**to the station. Harry couldn't blame them. Not only was Hagrid twice as tall as anyone else, he kept pointing at perfectly ordinary things like parking meters**

"What's a parking meter?" asked Tonks.

"It's this thing that tells you how long you've been parked somewhere. For cars. You have to fill it with money before time runs out, or else they can take your car away."

"What a pain," snorted Sirius.

**and saying loudly, "See that, Harry? Things these Muggles dream up, eh?"**

**"Hagrid," said Harry panting a bit as he ran to keep up, "did you say there are dragons at Gringotts?"**

**"Well, so they say," said Hagrid.**

"There are," James assured him.

**"Crikey, I'd like a dragon."**

James looked pointedly at Sirius.

"What?"

"I seem to recall you wishing you had a dragon once."

"You wanted a dragon?" asked Lily.

"So what if I did? Dragons are cool."

"He's right. They are," said Tonks.

**"You'd like one?"**

"Yes moony, we just discussed that!"

"It's in the book, idiot!"

**"Wanted one ever since I was a kid - here we go."**

**They had reached the station. There was a train to London in five minutes' time. Hagrid, who didn't understand 'Muggle money', as he called it, gave the notes to Harry so he could buy their tickets.**

**People stared more than ever on the train. Hagrid took up two seats and sat knitting what looked like a canary-yellow circus tent.**

**"Still got yer letter, Harry?" he asked as he counted stitches.Harry took the parchment envelope out of his pocket.**

**"Good," said Hagrid. "There's a list of everything yeh need."Harry unfolded a second piece of paper he hadn't noticed the night before and read:**

**HOGWARTS SCHOOL OF WITCHCRAFT AND WIZARDRY**

**UniformFirst-year students will require1. **

**Three sets of plain work robes (black)**

**2. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear**

"Does anyone even wear those?" asked Sirius.

"Not me."

**3. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)**

"Dragon hide is the best though."

**4. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings**

**Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags**

"Who'd be stupid enough to lose their clothes?" asked Tonks.

"You'd be surprised," said James, thinking of Peter.

**Set Books**

**All students should have a copy of each of the following**

**The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1) by Miranda Goshawk**

"They haven't changed that in all these years?"

**A History of Magic by Bathilda Bagshot**

"I think I know Bathilda," commented James.

**Magical Theory by Adalbert Waffling**

"Waffling?"

**A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration by Emeric Switch**

"Switch? Do they do that on purpose? Only right a book on something if your name has something to do with it?"

**One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Phyllida Spore**

"Fill the Spore, sounds like."

**Magical Drafts and Potions by Arsenius Jigger**

This was too much for Sirius.

"This is by far the best one. **Arse**nius Jigger. Wonderful parents that man must've had!"

"Enough, Sirius!"

**Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them by Newt Scamander**

"Ne – Newt Sc –"

"Sirius!" yelled Lily. "I'm this close to silencing you again!"

"Again?" asked Tonks.

"Oh yeah, he's been silenced and tied up a million times in the last four chapters," said James.

"So have you!" added Sirius.

"Not as many times as you!" he shouted back.

**The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection by Quentin Trimble**

Sirius opened his mouth, but Lily's practiced hand Silenced him before he got any words out.

**Other Equipment**

**1 wand**

Sirius glared at Lily. Tonks laughed.

**1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)**

When he was ignored, he started jumping up and down like a monkey.

"Padfoot! People are staring!"

**1 set glass or crystal phials**

Sirius wrote using his wand. He made words magically appear in the air. 'So? They cant help it im that goodlooking.'

"Punctuation, Padfoot," James reprimanded him. "And good-looking has a dash in the middle. There's an apostrophe after the n in can't, and after the I in I'm!"

Sirius hit James hard on the head.

"Ouch! See if I ever try and help you again!"

**1 telescope**

"James, stop fighting with Sirius and let Remus read. Sirius, I'm warning you … I _will _hex you!"

**1 set brass scales**

**Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad**

Sirius and James didn't stop. Lily sighed and bound both of them.

"Does this happen a lot?" asked Tonks.

"Unfortunately, yes," replied Lily.

**PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST-YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS**

"That's an unfair rule. I thought they might have stopped that in the future," said James even though he was tied up.

**"Can we buy all this in London?" Harry wondered aloud.**

Sirius wriggled up and down excitedly and made two words float out of his wand in red and sit in front of Lily: DIAGON ALLEY!

"How did you manage that?" Lily asked.

Sirius rolled around a bit more, and amazingly was freed in a few seconds.

'I have my ways,' he wrote.

"How come you never did that before?"

'I was practicing last night,' he wrote.

"Okay Lils, untie me now," asked James.

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

**"If yeh know where to go," said Hagrid.**

"Un-silence me,' wrote Sirius.

**Harry had never been to London before**

He continued to write that directly in front of Lily's face.

"Better stop before you piss her off, mate!" warned James. Too late. With a flick of her wand, Sirius' wand flew out of his hand and in to Lily's.

Lily pointed her wand at Sirius and performed a perfect bat-bogey curse. Sirius yelled silently as Remus continued to read.

**Although Hagrid seemed to know where he was going, he was obviously not too used to getting there in an ordinary way.**

Remus couldn't stand to see his friend like that, so he pleaded with Lily, and she ended the curse. Sirius lay panting on the grass. James was laughing loudly, wriggling around on the ground.

Unfortunately, Sirius did not learn his lesson.

He looked at her pleadingly

"NO! You talk too much."

Tonks was highly amused. She had never seen her "uncle" like this before.

**He got stuck in the ticket barrier on the Underground and complained loudly that the seats were too small and the trains too slow**

Sirius picked up some grass and threw it at Lily. Lily glared at him. James wriggled over to Remus and whispered something.

"Nope."

"Please!"

"Fine," replied Remus.

Sirius continued to annoy Lily. She screamed at him, then threw another bat-bogey curse at him.

"Merlin, Lily, remind me never to get on your bad side again!" said James as Remus untied him and gave James two Galleons.

"Right … forget Sirius, back to the book?" asked Tonks.

**"I don't know how the Muggles manage without magic," he said, as they climbed a broken-down escalator which led up to a bustling road lined with shops.**

Sirius looked pleadingly at James as weird things happened with his bogies.

"Take it off, Lils. Look at him! He's learned his lesson!" said James pleadingly.

Lily sighed and muttered the counter-curse. Sirius collapsed on the grass.

"Merlin..." He breathed

"It's your own fault" Lily snapped at him, though her eyes were sparkling mischievously

Remus laughed and began reading.

**Hagrid was so huge that he parted the crowd easily; all Harry had to do was keep close behind him.**

**They passed book shops and music stores, hamburger bars and cinemas, but nowhere that looked as if it could sell you a magic wand.**

"Cause you need to be in Diagon Alley!" James cried.

**This was just an ordinary street full of ordinary people. Could there really be piles of wizard gold buried miles beneath them? Were there really shops that sold spell books and broomsticks?**

"Yes"

**Might this not all be some huge joke that the Dursleys had cooked up?**

"They aren't smart enough to think of this," James pointed out.

**If Harry hadn't known that the Dursleys had no sense of humor**

Tonks snorted.

**he might have thought so; yet somehow, even though everything Hagrid had told him so far was unbelievable, Harry couldn't help trusting him.**

"Mmmm, Hagrid's like that."

**"This is it," said Hagrid, coming to a halt, "the Leaky Cauldron. It's a famous place."**

**It was a tiny, grubby-looking pub. If Hagrid hadn't pointed it out, Harry wouldn't have noticed it was there. The people hurrying by didn't glance at it.**

"Can Muggles see it?" asked Tonks.

"No. My parents couldn't when Hagrid took us there. He had to point it out to them."

"My wand?" asked Sirius. Lily decided to ignore him.

**Their eyes slid from the big book shop on one side to the record shop on the other as if they couldn't see the Leaky Cauldron at all. In fact, Harry had the most peculiar feeling that only he and Hagrid could see it.**

"Like we said." James said "They can't"

**Before he could mention this, Hagrid had steered him inside.**

**For a famous place, it was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe.**

"Lily?"

**A little man in a top hat was talking to the old barman, who was quite bald and looked like a gummy walnut.**

"Lily please?"

**The low buzz of chatter stopped when they walked in. Everyone seemed to know Hagrid; they waved and smiled at him, and the barman reached for a glass,**

"Lily?"

"If you want to keep talking, Sirius, I suggest you shut up!" warned Lily. He shut up.

**saying, "The usual, Hagrid?"**

**"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.**

James grinned "He does that to me all the time"

**"Good Lord," said the barman, peering at Harry, "is this - can this be**

James was grinning. "Yes, it's the famous Harry Potter!"

**The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent."Bless my soul," whispered the old barman. "Harry Potter ... what an honor** **He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed towards Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes. "Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."**

"Dramatic, much?" Remus muttered

**Harry didn't know what to say. Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realizing it had gone out. Hagrid was beaming.**

**Then there was a great scraping of chairs and, next moment, Harry found himself shaking hands with everyone in the Leaky Cauldron.**

**"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."**

"I've heard that name … " began James.

"She's a third year Ravenclaw. On the Quidditch team," added Lily when James showed no sign of recognition.

"Oh yeah. Chaser."

"I'd make a much better chaser," said Tonks.

"No, I don't think so. You are way too clumsy!"

"Am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"shut up!"

"Will not!"

"Lily, silence him!"

"Lily, don't listen to her."

"PEOPLE!" yelled Remus. "The book!"

**"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud."**

**"Always wanted to shake your hand - I'm all of a flutter."**

"Oh, I'm all of a flutter," said James in a high voice.

**"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you. Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."**

"That's the guy who did the shooting stars, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Have to find out how he did it."

**"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as DedalusDiggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."**

"He remembers?"

**"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!"**

"Oh wow." Remus said sarcastically "How exciting"

**Harry shook hands again and again - Doris Crockford kept coming back for more.**

"Yeah. He keeps coming back for more from my bludgers, too," added Sirius.

**A pale young man made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching."Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."**

**"P-P-Potter," **

"What does he teach?" James wondered

"Probably some useless, boring subject."

**stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you."**

**"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell"**

**"D-Defence Against the D-D-Dark Arts,"**

James looked shocked.

**muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it.**

"Merlin, he's scared of his own subject!"

**"N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" he laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.**

"Wimp" Sirius muttered

**But the others wouldn't let Professor Quirrell keep Harry to himself. It took almost ten minutes to get away from them all. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble. "Must get on - lots ter buy. Come on, Harry."**

"Yes, get him out of there!" Lily cried.

Sirius took his chance to try and grab his wand. Not a very wise move.

"Rectusempra!" yelled Lily.

"AARRGH," yelled Sirius, and then he began laughing like mad.

Remus stared at his friend, then at Lily.

**Doris Crockford shook his hand one last time**

"Persistent, isn't he?"

**and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a dustbin and a few weeds.**

**Hagrid grinned at Harry."Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblinter meet yeh - mind you, he's usually tremblin**

**"Is he always that nervous?"**

**"Oh, yeah, poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag**

"Li – Li – LILY!" gasped Sirius. She silenced him. Tonks looked pityingly at Sirius.

"You should know better, mate," said James.

**never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject - now, where's me umbrella?"** **Vampires?Hags? Harry's head was swimming.**

**Hagrid, meanwhile, was counting bricks in the wall above the dustbin."Three up... two across..." he muttered "Right, stand back, Harry."**

"Lily! Stop torturing him!" said James. Lily considered him for a while, then let Sirius go. He lay on the ground, panting hard, not moving.

"That was … that was too harsh!" he gasped.

"Don't try anything again! And I was just considering giving you back your wand!"

**He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.**

**The brick he had touched quivered - it wriggled - in the middle, a small hole appeared - it grew wider and wider - a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway on to a cobbled street which twisted and turned out of sight.**

"Welcome to Diagon Alley!" James said happily.

**"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."**

**He grinned at Harry's amazement. They stepped through the archway. Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.**

**The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons - All Sizes - Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver - Self-Stirring - Collapsible said a sign hanging over them.**

**"Yeah, you'll be needin one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."**

**Harry wished he had about eight more eyes.**

"That would be weird."

**He turned his head in every direction as they walked up the street, trying to look at everything at once: the shops, the things outside them, the people doing their shopping.**

"I was like that my first time there," said Lily reminiscently.

**A plump woman outside an apothecary's was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, seventeen sickles an ounce, they're mad..."**

"Why don't they just say a galleon?" asked Tonks and Sirius at the same time.

"Seventeen sickles makes it sound more expensive"

**A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium - Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown and Snowy.**

"Ugh, don't get a screech owl" Sirius muttered

"Snowy ones are the best!" said Lily.

**Several boys of about Harry's age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it. "Look," Harry heard one of them say, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest ever -"**

"I want one" James and Sirius said immediately, their own Nimbus 800's at the back of their minds.

**There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Harry had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes,**

"Urgh," said Tonks, evidently disgusted.

**tottering piles of spell books, quills and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon ...**

**"Gringotts," said Hagrid.They had reached a snowy-white building which towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was - "Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps towards him.**

**The goblin was about a head shorter than Harry. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and, Harry noticed, very long fingers and feet. He bowed as they walked inside. Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:**

"Do I have to read the poem?" asked Remus.

"I like it!" said James.

"Me too!" said Tonks.

"Let's all read it!" cried Sirius.

__

_**Enter Stranger, but take Heed  
Of what awaits the sin of greed,  
For those who take, but do not earn,  
Must pay dearly in their turn,  
So if you seek beneath floors,  
A treasure that was never yours,  
Thief, you have been warned, beware  
Of finding more than treasure there.**_

"But when you boil it all down, it basically says don't rob Gringotts.," said James.

**"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.**

**A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins on brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these. Hagrid and Harry made for the counter.**

**"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter's safe."**

"Do they have his key?"

**"You have his key, sir?"**

**"Got it here somewhere," **

"Oh, Good"

**said Hagrid and he started emptying his pockets onto the counter, scattering a handful of moldy dog-biscuits over the goblin's book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals.**

**"Got it," said Hagrid at last, holding up a golden key.**

**The goblin looked at it closely. "That seems to be in order."**

**"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."**

They all looked at each other excitedly "What is it do you reckon?" James asked

"Well , seeing as the book is called the Philosopher's Stone, I'm gonna guess that's what it is," said Tonks.

"Yeah, that's probably it," said Lily.

"Good for you, Tonks! You actually said something smart!" teased Sirius. She made a face at him.

**The** **goblin read the letter carefully. "Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to both vaults. Griphook**

"That's the same goblin! He's the one that took me and my parents first time I went to Gringotts!

**Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog-biscuits back inside his pockets, he and Harry followed Griphook towards one of the doors leading off the hall.**

**"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.**

**"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously.**

**"Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."**

**Griphook held open the door for them. Harry, who had expected to see more marble, was surprised. They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downwards and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks towards them. They climbed in - Hagrid with some difficulty - and were off.**

"Those carts are so damn fun!" said Sirius.

"It's like a rollercoaster," said Lily.

"A what?"

"It's this really high train track-type things, and these carts with people in it go along the tracks. They go upside down, they do great big loops, you go down steep side … They're loads of fun!"

"Awesome!" cried Sirius.

"We should totally go on one some day!"

"why do that when we can make one here!"

"Yeah! Cool! And it could … it could throw people into the lake after!"

"nice idea, but let's get back to the story," said Remus.

**At first they just hurtled through a maze of twisting passages. Harry tried to remember,**

"you can't. It's impossible!"

**left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but it was impossible.**

"See."

**The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.**

**Harry's eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but he kept them wide open. Once, he thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage**

"Dragons!" they all cried.

**and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but was too late. They plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.**

**"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"**

"Stalactites are on the roof, stalagmites are on the floor" Lily explained

"How d'you know that?"

"My mom told me this saying: 'Stalactites have to hold on tight to the roof, stalagmites might one day reach the top'"

"Wow. What useless information."

**"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it,"**

"Think I prefer Hagrid's answer," chuckled Sirius.

**said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."He did look very green and when the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees trembling.**

**Griphook unlocked the door. A lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver, heaps of little bronze Knuts.**

"Knew we had to have left something for him!"

"**All yours," smiled Hagrid.**

**All Harry's - it was incredible. The Dursleys couldn't have known about this or they'd have had it from him faster than blinking.**

James growled.

"But what would Muggles do with our money?" asked Tonks.

**How often had they complained how much Harry cost them to keep?**

James and Sirius growled. Lily looked Livid.

**And all the time there had been a small fortune belonging to him, buried deep under London.**

**Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.**

**"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a sickle, it's easy enough.**

"I didn't get a hang of the money at first. Took me a while," said Lily.

**Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe feryeh." He turned to Griphook. "Vault seven hundred and thirteen, now, please, and can we go more slowly?"**

"No!" Sirius cried "Faster!"

**"One speed only," said Griphook**

**They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine and Harry leant over the side to try and see what was down at the dark bottom but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.**

**Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.**

"**Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.**

"Wicked!" said James. Sirius opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He made a strange face.

"What're you doing?" asked James. Lily and Tonks suddenly burst out laughing.

"What?" asked James. He saw Lily's wand and started to laugh as well. "When did you do it?"

"As soon as Remus started to read again."

"Padfoot, how did you not realize that she had silenced you?" asked Remus. Sirius shrugged, and pointed at Lily, then at his mouth.

"No," replied Lily. Sirius stuck out his tongue, then started throwing grass at her.

"Don't, mate. You know what happens when she gets mad!" Sirius froze in mid-throw.

**"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook**

Sirius' face brightened at the thought of someone being stuck inside. Lily lifted the charm.

"Thanks," he said, somewhat surprised. "That is so cool"

"How often do you reckon they check if someone's stuck?" asked James.

"Who knows?"

**"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.**

"My son wants to know as well."

**"About once every ten years," said Griphook, with a rather nasty grin.**

**Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top-security vault, Harry was sure, and he leant forward eagerly, expecting to see fabulous jewels at the very least - but at first he thought it was empty.**

"Damn!"

"Thought, Paddy, thought," Remus said.

**Then he noticed a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor.**

"Must be the stone," said Tonks.

**Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat. Harry longed to know what it was, but he knew better than to ask.**

"Awwww," James and Sirius whined

**"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, it's best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid.**

**One wild cart-ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Harry didn't know where to run first now that he had a bag full of money.**

**He didn't have to know how many Galleons there were to a pound to know that he was holding more money than he'd had in his whole life - more money than even Dudley had ever had.**

"Good"

**"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding towards Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Listen, Harry, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? Hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick, so Harry entered Madam Malkin's shop alone, feeling nervous.**

**Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.**

**"Hogwarts dear?"**

"Does anyone else even go in there?" asked Sirius.

"Some people must. It's not only students that need robes, Sirius!" Tonks replied.

"Look, Paddy! She's only a firstie and she know more then you!" James teased.

"_Only a firsti_e" asked Tonks.

"Umm .. go on, Moony. Keep reading!"

**she said, when Harry started to speak. "Got the lot here - another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."**

"Oh, we get to meet one of Harry's classmates!"

**In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool**

"Must be a Malfoy," snorted James.

"I don't like them," said Tonks. "Narcissa's getting married to that Malfoy git, did you know that, Sirius?"

"Who cares? I stopped caring for the family when I ran away. Except you of course," he added.

"Thank God mom didn't marry some stuck up idiot like Lucius," said Tonks.

"Too true."

**while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. **

**Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head and began to pin it to the right length.**

**"Hullo," said the boy, "Hogwarts too?"**

**"Yes," said Harry.**

**"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice.**

"Malfoy," James muttered in confirmation.

"How do you figure that?" asked Tonks and Lily.

"They all drawl and have stupid, pale, pointy faces," Sirius replied.

"And they never do anything themselves," James added.

**"Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first-years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."**

"See? Isn't that something a Malfoy would do?"

**Harry was strongly reminded of Dudley.**

"Least we know Harry won't make the mistake of becoming friends with a Malfoy."

**"Have you got your own broom?" the boy went on."No," said Harry."Play Quidditch at all?"No," said Harry again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be.**

"More hurtful words I've never heard from a Potter's mouth!" cried James dramatically.

**"I do - Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my house, and I must say, I agree. Know what house you'll be in yet?"**

"No one does, you git! Now stop talking to my son before you contaminate him!"

**"No," said Harry, feeling more stupid by the minute.**

"Don't Harry, it's not your fault!" said Lily.

**"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been –**

"So was all of my family, but I'm a Gryffindor, and damn proud of it!"

**imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"**

"Hufflepuffs aren't that bad!" James remarked

"Slytherins are." Sirius said back

"**Mmm," said Harry, wishing he could say something a bit more interesting."I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding towards the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at two large ice-creams to show he couldn't come in.**

**"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."**

**"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"**

**"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking this boy less and less every second.**

"Good," they all said.

**"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of savage**

"He is not!" cried James, Sirius and Lily.

**lives in a hut in the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk,**

"So?"

**tries to do magic and ends up setting fire to his bed."**

"You little-"

"James." Lily warned

**"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.**

"Atta boy, Harry!"

**"Do you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer.**

**"Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"**

"You don't know who you're talking to, Malfoy brat!" sneered Sirius. "That's the famous Harry Potter! Everyone knows what's happened to his parents!"

**"They're dead," said Harry shortly.** **He didn't feel much like going into the matter with this boy.**

"I wouldn't either"

**"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were our kind, weren't they?"**

**"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean."**

"Nice answer," James grinned.

**"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you?**

"Git."

**They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families.**

"Git."

"Yes they should! Heck, look at Lily! She's Top of the year!" cried James.

"'Cept Transfiguration and Defense … that's all us," added Sirius.

"Us?" scoffed James. "You mean me and Moony, right?"

Lily smiled softly. She wondered why she had always hated the Marauders so much.

**What's your surname, anyway?"**

**Before Harry could answer, Madam Malkin said, "That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.**

**"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.**

"Unfortunately."

**"What's up?" said Hagrid.**

**"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed color as you wrote.**

**When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"**

James groaned.

**"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know - not knowin' about Quidditch!"**

"Don't make him feel worse" Lily commented

"James or Harry?" Sirius chuckled

**"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's. "and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in -"**

"**Yer not from a Muggle family. If he'd known who yeh were - he's grown up knowin yer name if his parents were wizardin' folk - you saw 'em in the Leaky Cauldron. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles - look at yer mum!** **Look at what she had fer a sister!"**

"Exactly!" James said

**"So what is Quidditch?"**

"Only the best sport in the world!"

"**It's our sport, wizard sport. It's like - like football in the Muggle world –**

"Football?"

"Like Hagrid said, It's like Quidditch, but played on the ground with only one ball, using your feet to kick it around. And No bats."

"But what's fun about that?" asked Sirius, genuinely confused.

**everyone follows Quidditch - played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls - sorta hard ter explain the rules."**

"That's not even close to the full rules" James groaned

**"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"**

**"School houses. There are four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but -"**

"Hufflepuffs aren't that bad!" James repeated.

**"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.**

"No, you'll be in Gryffindor! Just like us!" James said.

"But even if he is in Hufflepuff –"

"Which he won't be," muttered James under his breath.

"It would be fine."

"So long as it's not Slytherin."

**"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."**

**"Vol - sorry - You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"**

"Unfortunately"

**"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.**

**They bought Harry's school books in a shop called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all. Even Dudley, who never read anything, would have been wild to get his hands on some of these.**

**Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from Curses and Counter-Curses (Bewitch your Friends and Befuddle your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and much, much more**

"AWESOME!" James and Sirius cried simultaneously.

**by Professor Vindictus Viridian.**

**"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."**

"Good idea!" Sirius yelled

**"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."**

"Unfortunately, he has a point," Remus sighed.

**Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron, either ("It says pewter on yer list"),**

"Gold one would be cooler though."

**but they got a nice set of brass scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the apothecary's, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages.**

**Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor, jars of herbs, dried roots and bright powders lined the walls, bundles of feathers, strings of fangs and snarled claws hung from the ceiling. While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery black beetle eyes (five knuts a scoop).**

"Why would we care about the prices?"

**Outside the apothecary's, Hagrid checked Harry's list again. "Just yer wand left –**

"I bought that first thing when I went to Diagon Alley," said James.

"Me too," said Lily.

**oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."**

James and Lily grinned

**Harry felt himself go red. "You don't have to -"**

**"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer an animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at**

"Well, thank God I didn't buy a toad like mom wanted me to!" said Tonks.

**-an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer post an' everythin**

"Yeah!"

**Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage which held a beautiful snowy owl, **

"Those are the best ones," sighed Lily.

**fast asleep with her head under her wing. He couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell**

**"Don' mention it, said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys.** **Just Ollivanders left now - only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."**

"Definitely!" agreed James.

**A magic wand... this was what Harry had been really looking forward to.**

"Took me ages to find my wand" James complained

"Me too" Sirius muttered

"I got mine first try," said Lily.

"Mine took me three. 'Course I nearly brought the place down with that first one, so it took a while," added Tonks.

"Mine wasn't that bad" Remus said, laughing a bit.

**The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 BC. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.**

"Ollivander told me that used to be Merlin's wand. You reckon he was telling the truth?"

"Dunno."

**A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty for a single spindly chair which Hagrid sat on to wait.**

"Didn't it break?" Sirius asked.

**Harry felt strangely as though he'd entered a very strict library; he swallowed a lot of new questions which had just occurred to him and looked instead at the thousands of narrow boxes piled neatly right up to the ceiling. For some reason, the back of his neck prickled. The very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.**

**"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair.**

They all chuckled

"There it is," said Sirius.

**An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.**

**"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.**

**"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question.**

**"You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand.**

"Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow," said Lily immediately, pulling out her wand. Sirius looked at it warily.

**Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."**

Lily grinned.

**Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy.**

"Mmmm" James agreed

**"Your father, on the other hand, favored a mahogany wand.**

"Eleven inches, pliable, better for Transfiguration," grinned James.

**Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration.**

"Mine's ten and a half inches, yew, with Dragon Heartstring," said Sirius, thinking of his wand that was currently inside Lily's pocket.

"Mine is beechwood and phoenix feather, eleven inches exactly," said Remus.

"Mine is maple and dragon heartstring, eight and a quarter inches," said Tonks.

**Well, I say your father favored it- it's really the wand that chooses the wizard , of course."My Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose. Harry could see himself reflected in those misty eyes.**

They all shuddered

**"And that's where..."**

"Yeah, it's perfectly fine to go poke his head."

**Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger. "I'm sorry to say that I sold the wand that did it," he said softly.**

"Voldemorts?"

"Course, who else would have made his?"

"Could've been Gregorovich," said Lily.

"No, he wouldn't have gone abroad to get a wand, and Olli is the best in Britain," replied James.

"I heard he was an orphan, and was really poor," said Tonks.

"Really?"

"Mhmm."

**"Thirteen and a half inches.Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands... Well, if I'd known what that wand was going out in the world to do..."**

"He wouldn't have sold it."

**He shook his head and then, to Harry's relief, spotted Hagrid.**

"**Rubeus, Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again... Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"**

**"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.**

**"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.**

"**Er - yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.**

**"But you don't use them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.**

They all grinned.

**Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke.**

**"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now - Mr. Potter. Let me see."**

**He pulled a long tape measure with silver marking out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"Er - well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.**

**"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head.**

"What's the point of that?"

**As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns or dragons or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."**

"Really?" Lily said surprised "He never told me that"

**Harry suddenly realized that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.**

**"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring.Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."**

**Harry took the wand and (feeling foolish) **

"I remember, I felt stupid when I did that" Lily said happily

"Thank Merlin I didn't bring the place down my first try," said Tonks. "Mom would've murdered me!"

James burst out laughing "I knocked down a shelf of wands."

**waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander took it out of his hand almost at once.**

**"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches.Quite whippy. Try -"**

"Phoenix feather is the best," said James.

"They're all good!" Lily said.

**Harry tried - but he had hardly raised it when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.**

"It was annoying when he did that," said Tonks.

**"No, no - here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."**

**Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.**

"Took a million tries, just like his old man!" said Sirius.

"**Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere - I wonder, now - yes, why not - unusual combination - holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."**

**Harry took the wand. He felt a sudden warmth in his fingers.**

"That's the one!" Lily squealed

**He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on the walls.**

Sirius and James whooped "Yeah! Gryffindor!" they cried together

**Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well... how curious... how very curious..."**

"What's curious?"

**He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious... curious...""Sorry," said Harry, "but what's curious?"**

**Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare. "I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter.** **Every single wand.**

"How?"

**It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather - just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother - why, its brother gave you that scar."**

There was shocked silence.

"Voldemort has the brother wand?" Sirius asked finally

"Does that make a difference?" they shrugged.

**Harry swallowed.**

"**Yes, thirteen and a half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember... I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. potter... After all, He Who Must Not Be Named did great things - terrible, yes, but great."**

**Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He paid seven gold Galleons for his wand and Mr. Ollivander bowed them from his shop**.

**The late-afternoon sun hung low in the sky as Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, back through the wall, back through the Leaky Cauldron, now empty. Harry didn't speak at all as they walked down the road; he didn't even notice how much people were gawping at them on the Underground, laden as they were with all their funny-shaped packages, with the sleeping snowy owl on Harry's lap.**

"That would be weird .. even more than Hagrid!"

**Up another escalator, out into Paddington station; Harry only realized where they were when Hagrid tapped him on the shoulder."Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," he said.**

**He bought Harry a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them.**

**Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.**

**"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid.**

**Harry wasn't sure he could explain. He'd just had the best birthday of his life - and yet - he chewed his hamburger, trying to find the words.**

**"Everyone thinks I'm special,"**

"You are."

**he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander ... but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol- sorry - I mean, the night my parents died."**

"I wouldn't be happy either" Lily said sadly "I'd rather have my parents and no fame"

James pulled her into a hug

**Hagrid leant across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.**

**"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts,**

"Exactly!"

**you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts - I did - still do, 'smatter of fact."**

"That's exactly what I would've said!" said Remus.

"So why aren't we there to say it?" asked Sirius.

"Well I have my – " he stopped to look at Tonks, " – ah, furry little problem,"

"your what?" she asked

"Nothing, nothing." Tonks eyed him with much interest.

Remus coughed and quickly started to read.

**Hagrid helped Harry on to the train that would take him back to the Dursleys,**

"Shame he has to go back."

**then handed him an envelope.**

"**Yer ticket fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September - King's Cross - it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me... See yer soon, Harry."**

**The train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.**

"He disapparated?" asked Lily.

"Must've done," answered James.

"Hey, we get lessons on apparating this year, don't we?" asked Sirius.

"Yeah! Awesome!" said James.

"Not fair!" mumbled Tonks. "I don't get to."

"You will," said Sirius. "Go on, Moony, keep reading."

"That's the end of the chapter, Padfoot."

"That was a good chapter," said Lily. They nodded.

"Who's next?" asked Remus.

"ME! ME!" Tonks cried.

**A/N So, hope you liked the chapter. It was the longest yet, I think! There might not be another for tomorrow, but I'll get one out as soon as possible. In the mean time, Happy Easter (yesterday), and R-E-V-I-E-W!**


	6. Tonks figures it out

**A/N: FYI, they are in their sixth year, and Tonks is in her first. Please ignore the ages of Tonks, and anyone else who's age I have messed up just to add them to the story! Thanks to NANLIT, Jedi-from-Mortor, VampireDelight and fay-sheik-kikyou-chan for adding me to their alerts/faves, and thanks to all my reviewers! You guys kept me writing! Enjoy! Xxx Zeinab**

"You know what I just realized?" Tonks said. "I get that Sirius is an unreliable idiot, so he's not there for Harry, even though he's godfather … "

"Hey!"

"But where's Remus? Heck … where am I? I'd take care of your kid, Jamie."

"No thanks _Nymphedora_," she scowled at him, " but I'd want Harry to stay in one piece," replied James.

"Shut it."

"Why should I?"

"because otherwise I'll jinx you."

"You? You're only a firstie! What can you do to me?" His question was answered when Tonks muttered a spell, flicked her wand and a nasty-looking, puss-filled boil erupted right on his forehead.

"Argh! Stop it! Stop it!" he cried.

"Say you're sorry!" demanded Tonks. The others were laughing.

"S – sorry! Take it off! Argh, it's popped! Take it off!" Laughing, Tonks took away the boil.

"Blimey, I don't know who's worse, your wife or my neice!" exclaimed Sirius. Lily looked at him threateningly and he shut up.

"Lily?" Sirius began.

"What is it, Sirius?"

"Umm … there's just the matter of my –"

"No."

"You don't even know what I was going to say!"

"You're not getting it back, Sirius!"

"But I want it! I want my wand!" he moaned like a little child throwing a tantrum.

"Gosh, you sound like Dudley," joked James. Sirius growled at him.

"Don't ever, ever say that again!"

"Guys! I'll start reading, then?" asked Tonks

**The Journey from Platform nine and three Quarters**

"Hogwarts! Hogwarts!" chanted Sirius again, jumping up and waving his hands around.

"Sirius, people are staring!" cried Lily. "Oh, not you too, James!"

"Hogwarts! Hogwarts! Hogw- "

"ENOUGH!" Lily and Tonks screamed. They shut up. One of them was bad enough, but both …

**Harry's last month with the Dursleys wasn't fun.**

"Did he expect it to be?" asked Lily.

**True, Dudley was now so scared of Harry he wouldn't stay in the same room,**

Sirius grinned and James chuckled.

**while Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon didn't shut Harry in his cupboard,**

"His WHAT?" yelled Tonks.

"We forget to mention that?" asked James casually. "Well, Lily's horrible sister used to make Harry sleep in the cupboard under the stairs for the first ten years he lived with them," he said matter-of-factly.

" 'till they got the first letter from Hogwarts," Sirius added.

"What a horrible woman! How do you live with her?" Tonks asked Lily. She just shrugged.

**force him to do anything or shout at him - in fact, they didn't speak to him at all.**

"I'd say that's an improvement."

**Half-terrified, half-furious, they acted as though any chair with Harry in it was empty. Although this was an improvement in many ways**

"See?"

**it did become a bit depressing after a while.**

"Mmm, I suppose it would" Remus commented.

"Hey Lily," began Sirius.

"No."

"But – "

"No!"

**Harry kept to his room, with his new owl for company. He had decided to call her Hedwig,**

"nice name," mumbled Lily. "Think I read that in History of Magic once …"

"You read that thing?"

"Yes."

"Wow."

"I think he was the first man to do wandless magic, or something. He was the first man to do something."

"Wow … you sure like to be specific," teased Sirius. She glared at him and he stopped laughing.

**a name he found in A History of Magic.**

"Told you!"

**His school books were very interesting.**

Sirius snorted

"well, to someone who's never even heard of the wizarding world, everything about us would be interesting, wouldn't it?'

"Suppose so," muttered Sirius.

**He lay on his bed reading late into the night.**

"He gets that from you, Lily!" announced James. Lily made a face at him.

"I do not stay up till midnight reading textbooks!"She added under her breath, "At least not anymore."

**Hedwig swooping in and out of the open window as she pleased. It was lucky that Aunt Petunia didn't come in to hoover any more, because Hedwig kept bringing back dead mice.**

"Haha … Peter would be horrified by that," stated Sirius.

"Why?" asked Tonks curiously. The boys glanced at each other nervously, their gazes resting on Remus a fraction longer than each other.

"What is it?" Tonks asked Remus.

"It's … nothing. You're just too young to understand."

"I hate it when people say that! I'm not stupid, you know." Remus laughed.

**Every night before he went to sleep, Harry ticked off another day on the piece of paper he had pinned to the wall, counting down to September the first.**

"I used to do that when I lived with that bat I used to call my mother," said Sirius.

"I used to too, but then I got tired of it after third year," said Lily.

"Lily?" asked Sirius hopefully.

"No Sirius," she sighed. He groaned.

**On the last day of August he thought he'd better speak to his aunt and uncle about getting to King's Cross station next day, so he went down to the living-room, where they were watching a quiz show on television. He cleared his throat to let them know he was there, and Dudley screamed and ran from the room.**

"Big fat wimp! You'd think a kid his size would be less of a chicken!"

"I think that must be because he ate a live one," said Sirius.

"A live what?"

"Chicken, of course!"

"Ew!"

"**Er - Uncle Vernon?"**

**Uncle Vernon grunted**

"That confirms it … he's a pig!"

**to show he was listening.**

**Er - I need to be at King's Cross tomorrow to - to go to Hogwarts."**

**Uncle Vernon grunted again.**

Sirius and James grunted.

**"Would it be all right if you gave me a lift?"**

**Grunt.**

They grunted even louder.

**Harry supposed that meant yes.**

"Yup, that's pig for yes," said Sirius.

"You speak pig?" asked James mockingly.

"Shut it."

**"Thank you."**

"No need to say that."

**He was about to go back upstairs when Uncle Vernon actually spoke. "Funny way to get to a wizards' school, the train. Magic carpets all got punctures, have they?"**

"he's an ignorant pig!"

"Those are horrible. They were banned 'cause people kept getting chucked off."

**Harry didn't say anything.**

**"Where is this school, anyway?"**

"Away from you"

**"I don't know," said Harry, realizing this for the first time. He pulled out the ticket Hagrid had given him out of his pocket.** **"I just take the train from platform nine and three-quarters at eleven o' clock," he read.**

"He's not going to know what that is."

**His aunt and uncle stared. "Platform what?"**

"Petunia! You _know _how to get on!" roared Lily.

**"Nine and three-quarters."**

**"Don't talk rubbish," said Uncle Vernon, "there's no platform nine and three-quarters."**

"Yes there is, and your wife knows it!"

**"It's on my ticket."**

**"Barking,"**

"I resent that!" Sirius bellowed, causing them to laugh.

"What? I don't get it!" complained Tonks.

Remus sighed. "It's dangerous business. You're too young, Tonks."

"Again with that same tired old line 'You're too young!' When will people learn that I'm not a damn baby!"

"Easy now, Remus. Don't want to get that little one mad," warned Sirius. "She's horrible when she comes to visit. A right pain in the – "

"OI!"

"Fine. She's a sweet little girl. Happy?" She snorted.

**said Uncle Vernon, "Howling mad,**

"Hey!" said Remus. They laughed again.

"What!" whined Tonks. "Just tell me!"

"No."

"Fine then, I won't read!"

"Fine. Lily, you read," said James, already taking the book from Tonks.

"Oi, I was just kidding. Give that back!"

"See. James gave the book _back, _Lil!"

"No Sirius, I'll give it back when – _if -_ you behave."

**the lot of them. You'll see.** **You just wait. All right, we'll take you to King's Cross. We're going up to London tomorrow anyway, or I wouldn't bother."**

"Why are they going to London?"

"Probably to take that pig's tail off," snorted Lily.

"Why? It's perfect for him. Really completes his look." They all laughed at that.

**"Why are you going to London?" Harry asked, trying to keep things friendly.**

**"Taking Dudley to the hospital," growled Uncle Vernon. "Got to have that ruddy tail removed before he goes to Smeltings**

"See. I'm always right!"

"But I was right too. It belongs on his but!"

**Harry woke at five o' clock the next morning and was too excited and nervous to go back to sleep. He got up and pulled on his jeans because he didn't want to walk into the station in his wizard's robes - he'd change on the train.**

"That's what most people do."

**He checked the Hogwarts list yet again to make sure he had everything he needed, saw that Hedwig was shut safely in her cage and then paced the room, waiting for the Dursleys to get up. **

"Lily?" pleaded Sirius. "My hand is getting lonely!" She laughed but didn't give him his wand.

**Two hours later, Harry's huge, heavy trunk had been loaded into the Dursleys' car, Aunt Petunia had talked Dudley into sitting next to Harry and they had set off.**

**They reached King's Cross at half past ten. Uncle Vernon dumped Harry's trunk on to a trolley and wheeled it into the station for him.**

"Why's he being nice?" asked James suspiciously.

**Harry thought this was strangely kind until he stopped dead, facing the platforms with a nasty grin on his face.**

"That's why," muttered James, just as Lily yelled unexpectedly, " PETUNIA!"

**"Well, there you are, boy. Platform nine - platform ten. Your platform should be somewhere in the middle, but they don't seem to have built it yet, do they?"**

**He was quite right, of course. There was a big plastic number nine over one platform and a big plastic number ten over the one next to it, and in the middle, nothing at all.**

"No. There's a wall. And behind that there's a station!"

**"Have a good term," said Uncle Vernon with an even nastier smile.**

"Git."

"Pig. No, wait. Don't want to insult the pigs."

**He left without another word. Harry turned and saw the Dursleys drive away.**

"How dare Petunia do that!" shouted Lily. "She's been on the station with me and mum and dad!"

"She did?"

"Mhmm. And she was right frightened to walk into that wall!"

**All three of them were laughing. Harry's mouth went rather dry. What on earth was he going to do? He was starting to attract a lot of funny looks, because of Hedwig. He'd have to ask someone.**

"Please. For Merlin's sake, don't ask a guard!" pleaded James.

**He stopped a passing guard,**

James groaned.

**but didn't dare mention platform nine and three-quarters.**

"Least he has that much sense!"

**The guard had never heard of Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't even tell him what part of the country it was in, he started to get annoyed, as though Harry was being stupid on purpose.**

"Just because his dad does it doesn't mean he does! If he's inherited James' brain then he _is _stupid, though," added Sirius. James glared at him.

**Getting desperate, Harry asked for the train that left at eleven o' clock, but the guard said there wasn't one. In the end the guard strode away, muttering about time-wasters.**

**Harry was now trying hard not to panic. According to the large clock over the arrivals board, he had ten minutes left to get on the train to Hogwarts and he had no idea how to do it;**

"Poor Harry!" Lily said anxiously. "He does make it on, though, right? He has to!"

"Course he does," soothed James with his arm around Lily.

**he was stranded in the middle of a station with a trunk he could hardly lift, a pocket full of wizard money and a large owl. Hagrid must have forgotten to tell him something you had to do, like tapping the third brick on the left to get into Diagon Alley. He wondered if he should get his wand and start tapping the ticket box between platforms nine and ten.**

"No! Don't!" They all said quickly

**At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and he caught a few words of what they were saying. "packed with Muggles, of course -"**

"Wizards!" Remus said, relieved.

"Or witches," added Lily.

**Harry swung round. The speaker was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. **

"Weasleys?" James turned to Sirius

"Must be. Could be Crowns though."

"Nah, only some of them have red hair."

"You're right. Most prob'ly Weasleys."

**Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him - and they had an owl.**

**Heart hammering, Harry pushed his trolley after them. They stopped and so did he, just near enough to hear what they were saying.**

**"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.**

"It never changes. Why'd she ask?"

**"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand. "Mum, can't I go ..."**

"Awww, that's cute!" Lily cooed.

**"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."**

"Percy? Ginny?"

"What? Ginny's a fine name!" said Lily.

**What looked like the oldest boy marched towards the platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it - but just as the boy reached the divide between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of him, and by the time the last rucksack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.**

They groaned.

"What damn timing!"

**"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.**

**"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, call yourself our mother? Can't you tell I'm George?"**

**"Sorry, George, dear."**

**"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went.**

The three boys burst out laughing.

"Identical twins!" said James gleefully.

"Wish we were identical," said Sirius. "Think of all the stuff we could do to mess with people!"

**His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done, because a second later, he had gone - but how had he done it?**

**Now the third brother was walking briskly towards the ticket barrier - he was almost there - and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.** **There was nothing else for it.**

"Ask her!"

**"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.**

**"Hullo, dear," she said. "First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too."**

**She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet and a long nose.**

"Definitely a Weasley" Sirius and James said

"Not a very flattering description though" Lily pointed out

**"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is - the thing is, I don't know how to -"**

**"How to get on to the platform?" she said kindly, and Harry nodded.**

"Seems like a nice lady," said Lily happily.

**"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."**

"Why nervous?" asked Tonks.

"Well, running into walls isn't exactly normal for most people." Said Lily. "Most Muggles," she corrected herself.

"**Er - OK," said Harry. He pushed his trolley round and stared at the barrie.**

"Go Harry! Go Harry! Go Harry!"chanted Sirius. He really liked to chant things.

**It looked very solid.**

James laughed as he joined in.

**He started to walk towards it. People jostled him on their way to platforms nine and ten.**

"GO HARRY! GO HARRY! GO HARRY!"

"GUYS!" yelled Tonks. "It's getting impossible to read! I can't even hear myself!"

They didn't listen to her. She rolled her eyes and continued.

**Harry walked more quickly. He was going to smash right into that ticket box and then he'd be in trouble **

"Didn't Wormtail do that once?" asked Remus.

"GO HARRY! GO HARRY! GO HARRY!"

"You guys have weird nicknames for each other," Tonks pointed out. "How come?"

"Never you mind! Just keep reading!" said Remus.

"GO HARRY! GO HARRY! GO HARRY!"

**leaning forward on his trolley he broke into a heavy run**

"GO HARRY! GO HARRY! GO HARRY!"

**the barrier was coming nearer and nearer**

"GO HARRY! GO HARRY! GO HARRY!"

The chanting was reaching its peak.

"Who's Harry?" asked a passer-by. Lily shrugged and the girl went away.

**he wouldn't be able to stop - the trolley was out of control**

"GO HARRY! GO HARRY! GO HARRY!"

**he was a foot away - he closed his eyes ready for the crash**

"GOOOOOOOOOOO HAARRYYYYYYY!"

**It didn't come ...**

"Well, of course it didn't!"

**he kept on running ... he opened his eyes. A scarlet steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people.**

"HOGWATRS EXPRESS!" roared Sirius as James yelled, "He did it! He did it! He did it!"

"Enough," said Lily in a quiet voice.They ignored her and she lifted her wand tiredly. That stopped them.

"Works like a charm," muttered Lily.

"But you didn't use any charms," said James. "Did you?" he added uncertainly, looking around his body for some sign.

"No, it's just a Muggle saying."

**A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, 11 o'clock. Harry looked behind him and saw a wrought-iron archway where the ticket box had been, with the words Platform Nine and Three-Quarters on it. He had done it.**

James couldn't help himself. "YEAH!" he yelled.

**Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every color wound here and there between their leg, owls hooted to each other in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.**

**The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his trolley off down the platform in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."**

**"Oh, Neville," he heard the old woman sigh.**

"Neville?" snorted Sirius.

"It's not that bad!" said Lily.

"But our kid will never be called that," muttered James so that only Sirius could hear it.

**A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.**

"Must be a Jordan," grinned James.

"Yeah. They're the best. Real fun lot, they are!"

**"Give us a look, Lee, go on."**

**The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.**

"Cool!"

**Harry pressed on through the crowd until he found an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig inside first and then started to shove and heave his trunk towards the train door. He tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise one end and twice he dropped it painfully on his foot.**

"Ouch" Tonks winced. "I did that. Twice," she added sheepishly. They all laughed, except Remus.

"Come on, guys, cut her some slack. It's hard doing it on your own." Tonks smiled gratefully as Sirius stared at Remus.

**"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the ticket box.**

"I like those two," muttered Sirius.

**"Yes, please," Harry panted.**

**Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"**

**With the twins' help, Harry's trunk was at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.**

**"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.**

"Uh oh. They'll see his scar," said Sirius.

"Scar?" asked Tonks.

"Gosh, we don't explain things very well, do we?" said Sirius, looking at Lily.

"He got a scar on his head from when Vold – You-Know Who used the Avada Kedavra on him," answered Remus.

**"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.**

"See?"

"Blimey, that's rude!"

**"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you-?"**

**"He is," said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.**

**"What?" said Harry.**

**"Harry Potter," chorused the twins.**

**"Oh, him," said Harry.**

They started laughing.

"Sorry, Prongs, mate, but your kid can be a bit dim at times." Lily glared at Sirius.

**"I mean, yes, I am."**

**The two boys gawped at him and Harry felt himself going red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating through the train's open door.**

"Probably their mother"

**"Fred? George? Are you there?"**

**"Coming, Mum."**

"Hmm."

**With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.**

**Harry sat down next to the window where, half-hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying.**

**Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.**

**"Ron, you've got something on your nose."**

**"Mum - geroff." He wriggled free.**

They laughed.

Tonks laughed a bit more as she read the next words to herself, before reading it aloud.

"**Aaah has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.**

"I'm liking those two more and more," grinned Sirius.

"Me too," agreed James.

**Shut up," said Ron.**

**"Where's Percy?" said their mother.**

"He's the oldest one, yeah?" Lily nodded.

**"He's coming now."**

**The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes **

"Sounds like a prefect" Sirius commented wrinkling his nose

"What's wrong with prefects?" Remus and Lily cried

"You two? Nothing, but some prefects are just … " and he made a puking noise.

**and Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it.**

"See? See?"

**"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the Prefects have got two compartments to themselves -"**

"Yes, mother, the prefects have duties to do, don't they," said Sirius ion a mock-posh voice.

**"Oh, are you a Prefect, Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."**

**"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once-"**

**"Or twice-"**

**"A minute-"**

**"All summer-"**

They burst out laughing again. "Really like these two."

**"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.**

They laughed some more.

**"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.**

**"Because he's a Prefect," said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term - send me an owl when you get there."**

**She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.**

"Urgh. I hate it when mom turns to me and Sirius," shuddered James.

"Treats you both like proper sons, then, if she tells Sirius off." said Lily.

"Yeah, but I get away with more cause I'm so much prettier," said Sirius.

**"Now you two - this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've - you've blown up a toilet or -"**

"Man, it was fun when we did that," James said reminiscently.

"That was back in third year, right?" asked Sirius.

"Mhmm," answered Remus.

"You guys don't even remember when you did the things you did?" asked Tonks incredulously.

"Well, when you've done so much interesting stuff, you tend to forget which ones you did when."

"They just sort of all mush together."

**"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."**

"Bet they will now she's mentioned it," grinned Sirius.

**Great idea though, thanks, Mum."**

"See?"

"He's just joking, Paddy!"

**"It's not funny. And look after Ron."**

**"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."**

More laughter.

**"Shut up," said Ron again.**

**He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.**

**"Hey, Mum, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"**

"Sure, tell everyone" Remus muttered

**Harry leant back quickly so they couldn't see him looking.**

**"You know the black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"**

**"Who?"**

**"Harry Potter!"**

**Harry heard the little girl's voice.**

**"Oh, Mum, can I go on the train and see him, Mum, oh please ..."**

"He's no some kind of animal in a zoo!" said James indignantly, as Sirius said, "I think someone has a crush!"

**"You've already seen him, Ginny,**

"Yeah."

**and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo.**

"Thank you!"

**Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"**

**"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there - like lightning."**

**"Poor dear - no wonder he was alone. I wondered. He was ever so polite when he asked how to get on to the platform."**

"Seems like such a nice woman," smiled Lily.

"Yeah," agreed James.

**"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"**

"He'd better not ask him that! As if he needs reminding of that on his first day at school!"

**Their mother suddenly became very stern. "I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."**

Lily stared at the book.

"Guess all women _are _the same," grinned Sirius. "Just kidding," he added hastily as Lily gave him the evil eye.

"Suppose I shouldn't bother asking for my wand?" Sirius said sadly.

"No, you shouldn't."

**"All right, keep your hair on."**

**A whistle sounded.**

"They'd better hurry up!" warned Tonks.

**"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered on to the train. They leant out of the window for her to kiss them goodbye and their youngest sister began to cry.**

"Awww," Lily said

**"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."**

**"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."**

James and Sirius laughed.

"These guys are awesome!" grinned Sirius.

**"George!"**

**"Only joking, Mum."**

**The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed; then she fell back and waved.**

"Can you imagine Regulus doing that? Running to say bye to me?" joked Sirius.

**Harry watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner. Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. He didn't know where he was going to - but it had to be better than what he was leaving behind.**

"Anything is better than that place!" snorted Sirius.

"And Hogwarts is definitely something!" grinned James.

**The door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red-headed boy came in.**

"What was his name again?" asked James.

"If you just listen … "began Lily, but Sirius interrupted.

"Ron, I think."

**"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat opposite Harry. "Everywhere else is full."**

**Harry shook his head and the boy sat down. He glanced at Harry and then looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.**

Sirius snorted. "Mummy couldn't get that off, ey?"

"Sirius! Don't be mean about the Weasleys!" scolded James, much to everyone's surprise.

**"Hey, Ron."**

"How does he know his name?" asked Sirius.

"Don't be daft, Sirius. It's obviously not Harry."

**The twins were back**

"See?"

**"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train - Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."**

"Awesome!" yelled Sirius. "We should get one!"

**"Right," mumbled Ron.**

**"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother. See you later, then."**

"That was brief," said James.

"Prob'ly just wanted to see Harry Potter again," snorted Sirius.

"Well, we are amazing, who wouldn't want to see us?" Sirius snorted.

**"Bye," said Harry and Ron. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.**

**"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.**

"Nice" Sirius snorted "Very Polite,"

"Yeah," agreed Lily.

"Think these two will be friends?" asked Sirius.

"Yes," Lily replied.

"Think they'll get into Gryffindor?" asked Sirius.

"Yes," replied Lily.

"Can I get my wand back?"

"NO!"

"Awww, man!"

**Harry nodded.**

**"Oh - well, I thought it might have been one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got - you know ..."**

**He pointed at Harry's forehead.**

"Really, _really, _polite child."

**Harry pulled back his fringe to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.**

"Come on, Ron!"

**"So that's where You-Know-Who-?"**

"Wasn't he told not to ask?" Sirius wondered.

"No, I think that was just the twins," said Remus.

**"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."**

**"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.**

"I'm finding it hard not to call this guy a git," muttered Sirius.

"I know," agreed James.

"well, wouldn't you be curious? These guys have grown up hearing Harry Potter, Harry Potter, wouldn't that be fascinating to you? Wouldn't you want to know how a _one year old_ defeated _Voldemort?_" asked Lily.

"Yeah, I guess," said James slowly.

**"Well - I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."**

**"Wow," said Ron.**

**He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realized what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.**

"Least he had that much sense," said Tonks.

**"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.**

"This'll be interesting; they'll both want to know about each other's lives," said Remus.

"**Er - yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mum's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."**

"A second cousins who's a what?"

"An accountant. Someone who … prepares forms and reports and financial stuff for big companies, or rich people," said Lily.

"Oh … sounds dead boring to me."

"Yeah. It is. My uncle Bill is an accountant and he says it's the worst job in the world."

"Well, why does he do it then?" asked Sirius.

"Because … you don't just quit your job!"

"Why?"

"Because!"

"Because _what?"_

"Just _because, _Sirius," said Lily exasperatedly. "It's just common sense!"

"Doesn't seem like it," he muttered under his breath.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing!"

He said that it doesn't seem like common sense," said James. Sirius got up and hit James on the head. He sat down on the other side of Lily and gestured for Tonks to continue.

**"So you must know loads of magic already."**

**The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.**

"not quite the same," said Sirius.

**"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"**

"Awful," said James immediately.

"Stupid," added Sirius

"Ugly."

"Bullies."

"Rotten."

"Pigs."

"Fat."

"Fat pigs."

"Stupid fat pigs."

"Awful, stupid, fat pigs."

"Awful, stupid, rotten fat pigs."

"Awful, stupid, rotten, ugly, fat pigs."

"Awful, stupid, rotten, ugly, fat pig-bullies."

"Pig-bullies?"

"Yeah, "Awful, stupid, rotten … "

"Enough!" yelled Lily, Silencing them.

They glared at her.

**"Horrible -**

'After all that, he goes for horrible?' wrote James with his wand.

'I know. couldn't your son pick anything better' wrote Sirius in bright red writing, in the air.

'Punctuation, Paddy!' mocked James.

'shut up'

'how can I when I'm not even talking?'

"Merlin, you're annoying even when you can't speak!" yelled Lily. "Wait a minute," she added. Then she gasped. "How did you get your wand back?"

'I was wondering when you'd ask.' Sirius was grinning madly. 'I swiped it without you noticing!'

"When?"

'when I hit James on the head.'

Lily made a face at him. Tonks and Remus couldn't stop laughing. Tonks eventually sobered up and continued reading.

**well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Wish I'd had three wizard brothers."**

'Merlin, that's _five_ kids!' wrote Sirius.

'Yes, Padoot. We can all count!'

**"Five," said Ron.**

'Merlin! _SEVEN!'_

**For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left - Bill was Head Boy**

Sirius made a face.

'You know, I'm gonna be head boy!'

'Shame, that.'

You're just jealous.'

"Even when you can't talk –"

'yes, yes, we know. you already mentioned.'

Lily shook her head in disbelief.

**and Charlie was captain of Quidditch.**

'That's better!' Sirius wrote happily.

**Now Percy's a Prefect.**

He wrinkled his nose again.

**Fred and George mess around a lot,**

Both of the silenced boys exchanged looks of glee.

**but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Ron reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.**

'wormy' wrote Sirius in small letters in front of James' face, so only he could read. James burst out into silent fits of laughter.

**"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up.**

They were both now laughing silently

"What?" asked Tonks and Lily.

They shook their head.

'thats on a need to know basis, and you to ' Sirius looked mainly at his niece, ' dont need to know!'

(The mistakes are on purpose, they are not typos!)

**Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a Prefect, but they couldn't aff- I mean, I got Scabbers instead.**

"Nothing wrong with not being able to afford things," said Remus.

The silent twins nodded.

**Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.**

**Harry didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. **

They nodded more.

**After all, he'd never had any money in his life until a month ago, and he told Ron so, all about having to wear Dudley's old clothes and never getting proper birthday presents. This seemed to cheer Ron up.**

'funny how that cheers him up' stated Sirius.

**and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort -"**

'you know something Paddy' began James with a writing so small, and on the grass, so only Sirius could read it.

'Yes, I know quite a lot. what is it prongsie?' replied Sirius with the same writing.

'we have wands,'

'yes'

'we can free ourselves.'

'yes!'

With a swish of his wand, James was free. He sat down quietly. 'cant do silent spell' Sirius wrote sheepishly. James started to laugh, then freed Sirius.

"You're free?" asked Lily. "How?"

"Marauder's Rule numero uno, always know a way out," grinned James.

"Ah, you just used your wands," Remus pointed out.

**Ron gasped.**

"Oooh, he said Voldemort," said Sirius.

"Yes, I do believe he did!" said James.

"Oh, the horror!"

"Next time," muttered Lily so that only Tonks could hear, "I'm going to take away their wands!"

Tonks chuckled a bit before she carried on with the reading.

**"What?" said Harry.**

**"You said You-Know-Who's name!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed.**

**"I'd have thought you, of all people-"**

"Yeah, well, it's not like he's learnt all his life not to say the name," said Lily reasonably. "Everyone else fears him and knows what he's done, but Harry doesn't!"

**"I'm not trying to be brave or anything, saying the name," said Harry. "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn ... I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."**

"You won't be," James and Lily said simultaneously.

**"You won't be.**

They all laughed.

**There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."**

They all looked at Lily (even Tonks), who smiled.

**While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep.**

**They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.**

**Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the trolley, dears?"**

**Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to his feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches. Harry went out into the corridor.**

**He had never had any money for sweets with the Dursleys and now that he had pockets rattling with gold and silver he was ready to buy as many Mars Bars as he could carry **

"Mars Bars?" asked James. "They name candy after _planets?"_

"It's just a name. And it's not candy, it's chocolate. Delicious, too," added Lily.

"I'd like some," said Remus.

"Yeah, you love the chocolate!" grinned Sirius.

"Chocoholic!"

"Yup. They'll be married right after he's done with school."

"I'm not that crazy about them!"

Tonks stared at Sirius, then at Remus. "Married to who?" she asked.

"Never mind!" said Remus. "Keep reading, Tonks."

**but the woman didn't have any Mars Bars.**

"Shame."

**What she did have were BertieBott's Every-Flavor Beans,**

"Watch yourself with those! I once got liver once. And sprouts. Awful, those!" warned James.

**Droobles Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron cakes, Liquorice wands and a number of other strange things Harry had never seen in his life. Not wanting to miss anything, he got some of everything and paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts**

"Prices have gone up, haven't they?" muttered Sirius.

**Ron stared as Harry brought it all back into the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.**

**"Hungry, are you?"**

"Must be starving."

"Doubt the Dursley's fed him before he left."

**"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.**

"Those are great."

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches in there. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."**

"Poor guy," said Lily.

"Well, his mother has to make lunch for _four_ of them," said Tonks.

**Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches in there. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."**

**"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty.**

**"Go on -"**

**"You don't want this, it's all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."**

"Yeah, but the girl doesn't go, right?"

**"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry**

"that's nice of Harry," commented Lily.

**who had never had anything to share before, or, indeed, anyone to share it with.**

Lily sighed.

**It was a nice feeling, sitting there with Ron, eating their way through all Harry's pasties and cakes (the sandwiches lay forgotten).**

**"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not really frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.**

**"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is, I'm missing Agrippa."**

"Know what? I think I am too," said Sirius slowly.

"I have like four of him!" grinned James.

"Give me one!" demanded Sirius.

"No!"

"I don't have Agrippa either," said Lily.

"You can have one of mine," said James automatically.

"Hey!" cried Sirius. "You'll give him to her, but not your best friend!"

"Yes!"

"Git!"

"Mutt!"

"Arse!"

"Toad."

"Stupid goat"

"Snape's lookalike!" goaded James. Sirius roared with rage.

"Don't you _ever EVER_ call me that again!" he said, jumping on top of James.

"Come on, Paddy, even you must have noticed the similarity! The long Black hair, the long nose, even your eyes are simila – " his last words were lost as Sirius sent James flying in the air, hung up by his ankle.

"thought you couldn't do wordless spells," commented Lily.

"This one's an exception."

"Paddy! Put me down!"

"Take it back!"

"Put me DOWN!"

"Take it BACK!"

"PUT ME DOWN!"

"TAKE IT BACK, POTTER!"

"PUT ME DOWN, BLACK!"

"Take it back first!"

"Fine, I take it back."

"Say the words!"

"What words?"

"Say I'm not like Snape!"

"Fine! I'm not like Snape!"

Lily, Remus and Tonks were laughing so hard that it almost hurt.

"You KNOW what I meant!"

"FINE! You are not like Snape! Happy?"

"Yes."

"Now put me down!"

"No."

"WHAT!"

"no," said Sirius. "You can stay like that for a while and think about what you've done."

"What am I, eight? I don't need a time out!"

"Yes you do," joked Sirius. James pulled out his wand and attempted to jinx Sirius upside down. He couldn't do it.

"Go ahead, Tonks," urged Sirius. Tonks glanced at James. "He's not going to keep quiet."

Indeed, James was still fuming at Sirius. That matter was resolve with another spell, and James was silenced. James glared at Sirius.

"Go ahead." Tonks shrugged.

**What?"**

**"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know - Chocolate frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect - Famous Witches and Wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."**

"I've got about ten of him," said Sirius, completely ignoring the thrashing James.

The others couldn't help but laugh. Even Tonks was laughing as she continued to read.

**Harry unwrapped his Chocolate frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long crooked nose and flowing silver hair, beard and moustache.**

"Dumbledore!" cried Sirius.

**Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.**

**"So this is Dumbledore!" said Harry.**

**"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron.**

**"Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa - thanks -"**

"Yeah, _that's_ why he wants a frog. For the card!" said Sirius sarcastically. Lily, Remus and Tonks continued to laugh at James, who was now attempting to write upside down.

**Harry turned over his card and read:**

_**Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts.  
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945,**_

"Everyone knows that."

_**for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood**_

"What are the last four again?" asked Remus, now also ignoring James.

"Who cares?" asked Sirius.

"Um, Sirius," began Lily, looking at James. "D'you think maybe it's time to let James down now?" James nodded furiously.

"No. You were perfectly happy with leaving us tied up and silenced, so why can't I leave him like that?"

"Because all the blood will rush to his head!"

"So?"

_**and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel**_

"Who?"

_**Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.**_

"Bowling?" asked Remus.

"It's actually pretty cool," said Sirius. Lily, Remus, Tonks, and even James, looked at Sirius in shock.

"How d'you know what that is?" asked Lily, momentarily forgetting about James.

"I took Muggle Studies, for Merlin's sake!"

"well, what is it?" asked Tonks.

"You have to throw a heavy ball at ten "pins" and try to know as many of them down as possible."

"Sounds like your kind of game," said Remus.

"It is."

**Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared**

**"He's gone!"**

"Well you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Sirius.

**"Well you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron.**

Sirius looked somewhat stunned as he blinked slowly.

James thrashed around some more, and sent random sparks flying from his wand to draw attention to himself. After all, he was hanging, not in front of them, but slightly to the side.

'OI!' he managed to write from his upside-down position.

He was ignored by Sirius.

"Take him down," said Lily. She had no idea what spell he had used. The last time she had seen a similar spell was when James had suspended Severus in the air and Severus had called her a Mudblood.

"No!" replied Sirius, thoroughly enjoying the fact that he was in charge. Even Remus, a fellow Marauder, did not know the spell. It was only James and Sirius who knew it.

**"He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again**

"Need her," muttered Tonks.

**and I've got about six of her ... do want it? You can start collecting."** **Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped.**

**"Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."**

"What, they don't move at all?" wondered Sirius. "Weird."

"Muggle Studies ring a bell?" scoffed Remus.

**"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. "Weird!"**

"Coincidence?" said Sirius. "I think not!"

James sent another couple of sparks. Sirius sighed and let him down. James landed on the grass heavily and hit Sirius on the head immediately. He removed the silencing charm himself and called Sirius a git.

**Harry stared as Dumbledore sidled back in the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them.**

**Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcroft, Alberic Grunnion,**

"Never heard of that one," said Sirius.

"Really? I've got about four of him," said James.

"Can I have one?" asked Sirius.

"NO!"

"Git."

"Wanker!"

"Moron!"

"WAIT!" yelled Lily. "Doesn't this sound similar to either of you?"

They shook their heads. "Idiots!" she muttered. Remus and Tonks shared another laugh.

**Circe, Paracelsus and Merlin. He finally tore his eyes from the druidess Clidona, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans.**

"**You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavour, they mean every flavour - you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe.**

"Yuck!" said Lily.

"Told you there was a liver flavoured one!"

**George reckons he had a bogey-flavoured one once." **

They all looked revolted, especially Lily.

**Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully and bit into a corner. "Bleaaargh - see? Sprouts."**

"I've had that," said James. "I know what he means!"

**They had a good time eating the Every-Flavor Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass,**

"Grass?"

**coffee, sardine and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch,**

"Isn't that just pepper?" asked Sirius.

**which turned out to be pepper**

"yeah, I've had that one," said Sirius.

**The countryside now flying past the window was looking wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills.**

**There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.**

**"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"**

**When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"**

**"He'll turn up," said Harry.**

**"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..."** **He left.**

"Why's he trying? If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could!" said Sirius.

**"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could.**

"That's just a bit much, isn't it?" Sirius said exasperatedly.

James nodded.

"Anyway, he brought Wormt – er – _Scabbers,_ "he said hastily, but Tonks caught what he had meant to say and eyed him suspiciously. "Erm, he brought Scabbers so he can't talk."

**Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."**

Sirius looked shocked, but they all still managed to laugh, thinking of Peter.

"What?" asked Tonks.

"Never you mind," said Remus. "Please stop asking about that."

It looked as though she wanted to pursue the topic, but since Remus had said it so politely, she dropped it.

**The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.**

Sirius chuckled "Yup, _That_ sounds familiar"

**"He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust.**

**"I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting,**

"How'd he do that? You aren't allowed magic out of school!"

**but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look..."**

**He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.**

"That can't be good"

**"Unicorn hairs nearly poking out. Anyway -"**

"Sounds like an old wand"

**He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toad less boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.**

**"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said.**

"They've already answered that"

**She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.**

"Flattering"

**"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.**

**"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then."** **She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.**

"Lily did the exact same thing to me on the train!" said James.

"No, I can't have been that rude about it!"

"No," conceded James. "You asked if you could watch, as you'd only ever seen the little bit that Hagrid had showed you, and I foolishly said yes." James grinned at the thought.

"Merlin, I nearly burst open that trunk with that useless spell!" he reminisced.

"What?" asked Tonks.

"Nah, I can't explain it. You had to be there." Tonks made a face at him and moodily decided to read on.

"**Er - all right."** **He cleared his throat.** **"Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow.**

"That can't be a real spell!" said Sirius.

**He waved his wand, but nothing happened.**

"See?"

**Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.**

**"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course,**

"Merlin, this girl said that all in one breath!" exclaimed Tonks, who had had to stop to take a breath.

**I mean, it's the best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough –**

They all looked shocked.

"Even Lily didn't go that overboard!" said James. Lily gave him a reproachful look.

**I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said all this very fast.**

"Rather abrupt, don't you think?"

**Harry looked at Ron and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learnt all the set books off by heart either.**

"Nobody does!" Lily said exasperatedly

"She _must _be a Ravenclaw!" said James. "In fact, three Galleons says she is! Anyone up for the bet?"

Sirius and Remus exchanged glances, and Sirius finally agreed.

**"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.**

**"Harry Potter," said Harry.**

**"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."**

"Light reading, is it?" scoffed James.

"Good to know he's in all those books though, ay?"

"**Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.**

**"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione.**

"I wouldn't want to think about it if it was me," said Lily. "Want to know all about the day my parents died." She shuddered and sighed sadly. James went up to her and sat beside her, putting an arm around her.

**"Do either of you know what house you'll be in? **

"They'll probably be in Gryffindor, All Potters are, and All Weasleys are too."

**I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor,**

They all groaned

**It sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one,**

"Yeah, he was," said Sirius.

"How d'you know?"

"We have our ways," said Sirius mysteriously.

"We just asked him," said Remus. Lily snorted. So much for their "Mysterious ways"

**but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."**

**And she left, taking the toad less boy with her.**

"Whatever house they're in, I hope she isn't in it!" said Sirius.

**"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron.**

Sirius groaned. "Enough is enough already!"

"Well, why don't you just stop talking?" offered Lily hopefully. Sirius and James burst out laughing; Lily glared at them.

**He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell - George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."**

"Probably, I would've done the same thing"

**"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry."Gryffindor," said Ron.** **Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mum and Dad were in it, too.** **I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."**

"I'd leave if I was put there"

**"That's the house Vol- I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"**

**"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat looking depressed.**

**"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers's whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry trying to take Ron's mind off houses.**

**"So what do your oldest brothers do now they've left, anyway?" Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.**

**"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons **

"Brilliant!"

"That's what I wanna do!" exclaimed Sirius.

"I want to be an Auror" James said.

"Me too," said Lily. To everyone's surprise, Tonks said, "Me too."

Sirius frowned at her. "You sure that's the best job for you, oh little niece of mine?"

She glared at him. "Yes, that's what I want to do!"

"Try not to break anything while you're at it, then," teased James.

"Actually," said Sirius,  
I think she really _could _be an Auror, what with her abilities." Tonks beamed.

"What abilities?" asked Remus and Lily simultaneously.

"You know, Moony! The changing one … "

"Oh yeah … Sirius told e about that!"

"What?" whined Lily.

"She's a metamorphmagus!" exclaimed James and Sirius together.

"No way!" said Lily. "you're joking?"

"Nope, it's true!" said Tonks, and she proved it by turning her hair from the blond that it had been previously to red, brown, and finally pink. She decided to leave it as pink.

"Wow!" said Lily, impressed. "Can you learn to be one? I'd love to be able to do that."

"I think you can," said Tonks, "but it's really complicated. I was naturally like this. Mum said that my hair started changing colour the day I was born!"

**and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron.**

"There's a Gringotts in Africa?" asked Sirius.

"Duh!"

"**Did you hear about the Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles - someone tried to rob a high-security vault."**

"Really?"

**Harry stared.** **"Really? What happened to them?"**

**"Nothing, **

"_Nothing?_"

"Wow, how'd he get out?"

"I thought it was impossible!"

**that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd.** **'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."**

Lily shuddered "Oh Merlin, It'd better not be Voldemort!"

"Probably is though," sighed Remus.

"Why can't you leave us in peace, why must you always say the dark things?" asked Sirius.

"Because it's the truth!" said Remus.

"He's right," sighed Lily.

**Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a prickle of fear every time You-Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more comfortable saying 'Voldemort' without worrying.**

"Fear of a name, only increases fear of the thing itself" Remus said nodding

**"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.**

"**Er - I don't know any," Harry confessed.**

"No, I can't hear this," James announced dramatically.

**"What!" Ron looked dumfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world -" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he'd had the money.**

"That's much better than what Hagrid said!" cried James, getting excited now. "You wait, my son'll be an ace player!"

"_your _son?" scoffed Lily.

"_Our _son," James said, looking anxiously at Lily as though expecting her to jinx him. She laughed. "What?"

"Just the look on your face! And you know, if he takes after me he won't."

"Won't what?"

"Play Quidditch!"

"Don't even say that, Lils. Don't even _say_ that!"

**He was just taking Harry through the finer point of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toad less boy or Hermione Granger this time.**

**Three boys entered and Harry recognized the middle one at once:**

**It was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop.**

They all groaned.

**He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.**

"Probably realized who he was talking to and what a mistake he made."

**"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"**

"No, it's Merlin's ghost standing beside him. What do you think, idiot?" said Sirius. The others raised their eyebrows at him.

"What?"

**"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing either side of the pale boy they looked like bodyguards.**

**"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking.**

"Just as bad as thick as Dudley if they're anything like their fathers," scoffed Sirius, and the others nodded.

**And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."**

"What a name," said Remus, shaking his head.

Lily nodded. "Means Dragon bad faith!"

"Just proves my point: all Malfoys are evil!"

**Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.**

"Ack! It burns! It burns!" Sirius cried

**"Think my name's funny, do you?**

"Yes"

**No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."**

Sirius growled.

**He turned back to Harry."You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter.**

"Yes, Weasleys are much better than Malfoys"

**You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. **

"No, he doesn't, so go away" Lily snapped

**I can help you there."**

**He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.**

"Atta boy, Harry!" said James. "Potters never make friends with snakes like Malfoys!"

**"I think I can tell who the wrong sorts are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.**

"Good one, Harry!"

**Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.**

**"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents.**

"Watch it, Malfoy," threatened James.

"Or we'll murder your father and stop you from being born," finished Sirius, earning him more awkward looks.

**They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riff-raff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid and it'll rub off on you."**

Lily looked livid

**Both Harry and Ron stood up.**

"Yes, you show him!"

**Ron's face was as red as his hair."Say that again," he said.**

**"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" sneered Malfoy.**

"YES!" yelled Sirius. "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

**"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.**

"So? The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Remus growled

"Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

**"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."**

"Don't touch my son's food," growled James. "They don't want your filthy hands on their food! Who knows where they've been!"

**Goyle reached towards the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron -** **Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.**

"YES!" roared Sirius. Then he paused and frowned. "Wait, what happened?"

**Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle **

"Woo-hoo!" Sirius yelled "Go wo – Scabbers!" Tonks eyed Sirius again.

**Crabbe and Malfoy backed away.**

"wimps!" said James and Sirius.

**As Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once.**

They winced. "Poor Wor – Scabbers!" said Sirius. A look of dawning comprehension appeared on Tonks' face.

"No way!" she exclaimed. Remus and James glared at Sirius, who shrunk under their looks of anger.

"No way what?" asked Lily, wondering if this first year had already figured out what had taken her and Alice months to figure out.

"You're not … you guys aren't … can't become _animagus_ can you?" she asked. They exchanged glances nervously. She took this to mean yes.

"Wow. I never thought that my idiot cousin –"

"Uncle!"

"_cousin_ could ever accomplish anything!"

"Hey!"

"Well, that's the truth! Anyway, are you, Lily?"

"Animagus? No, not me. Just them and Peter."

"Where is Peter, anyway?" asked Tonks. "I thought he was one of your best friends."

James and Sirius turned to look at Lily.

"He's asleep now," said Lily stiffly.

"But it's already nine!" said Tonks curiously.

"He sleeps a lot," James replied uncomfortably.

"Do you guys not _want _him to know about this book?" asked Tonks.

"No, we don't," answered James.

"Why?"

"I don't think you guys should trust him as much as you do," said Lily. They all looked at Lily.

"What? Why?"

"Because. Just be careful around him, alright?" The guys shrugged.

**Perhaps they thought there were more rats lurking around the sweets, or perhaps they'd heard** **footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in**

"Oh not her again!" groaned Sirius.

"I've had more than enough of her," muttered James.

"**What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail.**

**"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No - I don't believe it - he's gone back to sleep."**

James and Sirius snorted.

"Sure sounds like Wormtail," said Sirius.

"So he becomes a rat, then?" asked Tonks. Remus shifted uncomfortably.

"Yes, yes he does," said Remus finally.

"And the rest of you?"

"I'm a –" began James, but Sirius interrupted.

"Why don't you try and guess?" he challenged. "That's what we made Lily do."

"What do I get if I get them right?"

"A sickle for every one you get right."

"Just a sickle?"

"Fine, five sickles for each."

"Fine. You seem like a … dog, Sirius." He nodded to show her that she was right.

"What about me?" asked James.

"I'd say … a deer," she guessed.

"Actually, it's a stag," said James.

"Same thing!"

"Is not! A deer's –"

"it IS the same. Now, Remus … "she began, and Remus looked worried, but she couldn't seem to finish.

"No idea," she said finally. Remus gave a small sigh of relief. "So what are you?"

"Nothing. I'm not an animagus."

"What? No way!"

"It's true," said James.

"Cross my heart and whatever," said Sirius. Tonks looked unsure.

"I'm not, so get on with the book!"

"the wha –oh, yeah!" She had almost forgotten about the book! "Where was I? Oh yeah!"

**he's gone back to sleep."**

"You already read that," Sirius pointed out.

"So?"

**And so he had.**

**"You've met Malfoy before?"**

**Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.**

**"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched.**

"Yeah right" James muttered

**My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side."**

"Exactly, The Malfoys are right in Voldemort's inner-circle everyone knows that."

**He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"**

**"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up the front to ask the driver**

"Merlin, she actually did that?"

**and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"**

"Wasn't them! It was Scabbers!"

**Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron.**

**"Would you mind leaving while we change?"**

**"All right - I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," **

"Gee, acting childishly wouldn't be 'cause they're children would it?"

**said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"**

"As a matter of fact, he did. Now shoo!"

**Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep-purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.** **He and Ron took off their jackets and pulled on their long black robes. Ron's were a bit short for him, you could see his trainers underneath them.**

**A voice echoed through the train: "we will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."**

**Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.** **The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way towards the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs'-years! Firs'-years over here! All right there, Harry?"**

"He's been doing that job like, forever!"

**Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.** **"C'mon, follow me - any more firs'-years? Mind yer step, now! Firs'-years follow me!"**

**Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.**

"**Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."**

"It looked so magical," sighed Lily.

"Yeah," they all agreed.

**There was a loud "Oooooh"**

**The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.**

"**No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.**

"That was fun," said Lily.

"Would've been more fun for me if I hadn't fallen out," muttered Tonks.

"Well, of course you fell out, clumsy!" said Sirius.

"You know, I seem to recall you falling out as well, Sirius!" said Remus.

"Only because James pushed me out!"

"Cause you were bugging me!"

"Yeah, well, I got you in as well!" Lily was laughing.

"So that's why you two were wet!"

"Course," said James cheerfully. "That was the most fun thing in the world. I swear the Squid almost grabbed us"

"Sure, Prongs!" said Remus

"No, honestly! When we were swimming to the shore!"

"Why'd you swim?" asked Tonks. "When I fell out Hagrid came up and pulled me into his boat."

"Yeah, well. He didn't really notice that we'd fallen out, you see." Tonks started to laugh.

"We were really shaken up after that."

"Why? It wasn't that far," commented Lily.

"Horribly cold, though."

"And I had to wrestle with the squid."

"Did not!"

"Yes, it did!" said Sirius.

"We had to fight it off or"

"It would've killed us!" finished Sirius.

"Guys," began Tonks.

"It's creepy when you do that," said Remus.

"Do what?"

"Finish each other's sentences."

"Guys …"

"Why?"

"Just is."

"How is –"

"GUYS!" she yelled. "The book!"

**Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione.**

Sirius and James groaned.

**"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then - FORWARD!"**

**And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the castle overhead.** **It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.**

**"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; **

"What happens if you don't duck?" asked Lily.

"You get hit," Sirius replied.

"Let me guess, that happened to you?"

"How'd you know?"

"Didn't. It was more of an educated guess."

"See, she's educated," said Sirius.

"Unlike you."

"You mean unlike us," corrected Sirius.

"Quite right, you are."

"Aren't I always?"

"Not really."

"More so than you."

"That's not entirely true."

"No, it really isn't."

"Enough, guys." Remus started taking bets with Tonks.

"She says she's had enough."

"Think we should stop talking?"

"No, where's the fun in that?"

"Good point, Paddy."

"Why, thank you, Prongsie!"

"Shut it, guys!"

"Isn't she being a bit rude?"

"I'm warning you!"

"She's warning us Prongs!"

"I heard her, Paddy."

"Just thought I'd make it clear."

Lily silenced them both.

"Why didn't I just do that before?" Tonks gave Remus some money.

The boys shrugged and continued their conversation with their wands writing in the air.

'That wasn't nice now, was it? And we can't take it off, either.' Wrote James, who could not remove the silencing spell himself.

'how'd she manage that?'

'Who knows? Shes better than us at Charms, so she must know something we don't.'

'well, she did warn us, prongs'

'capital p, Paddy!'

'I don't care, Prongs!'

"Guys! Stop it!"

'why?'

'yes, why? We're having so much fun!'

'because I'll jinx you!'

'I don't think she will, Paddy'

'I quite agree, Prongs'

"I will!" threatened Lily.

'well, all you've done is threaten, Lily flower, and that's getting old!'

'I agree.'

'Be careful with those sparks coming out of your wand, Lily. You may end up hitting us, and we wouldn't want that now would we?'

Remus got some more money from Tonks.

'Well, look at moony getting rich off of us!'

'Yes. He knows us too well.'

'But nymphedora knows me quite well too.'

"Don't call me that, Sirius!"

'I won't if you call me uncle Sirius!'

"Never!"

'then, I'm afraid Nymphedora it is'

'I quite like the name, don't you Padfoot?'

'Yes, I find it charming'

Lily shot a spell right over James' head.

'Missed me missed me now you gotta kiss me,' wrote James. Lily almost let out a smile, then said dangerously, "The next one won't miss!"

'well, I think she's serious!' wrote James.

'no no, that's me.'

"That's old," said Remus.

'he's right, Paddy!'

'well, old is gold.'

'not sure I agree.'

'watch it Lily. You're getting closer.'

'I think she means it.'

'I reckon we should shut up.'

'but we're not talking,' wrote James.

'still.'

She shot another spell right in between them both.

'right, we should stop now' James wrote.

'right you are.'

'I'm always right.'

"James!" yelled Lily, aiming her wand at the pair of them.

'shutting up now.'

'shutting up.'

Tonks was now receiving a ton of gold from Remus.

"I've completely forgotten where we were!" said Tonks.

'if I may, we were at the part where Hagrid told them all to put their heads down.' James wrote, looking worriedly at Lily.

**they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which had a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out on to rocks and pebbles.**

**"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.**

**"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.** **They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.**

**"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.**

'end of chapter, is it?' asked Sirius.

'yes it is, Paddy. And I think I should get to read.'

"No chance!" yelled Lily, taking the book from Tonks.

'Nymphadora, as your uncle I order you to give me the book!' She stuck her tongue out at Sirius and gave the book to Lily. James sulked silently.

'at least remove the silencing charm!'

"No!"

'hear that! She said no!'

'after we've been so good!'

Lily snorted.

**A/N: WOW! 53 pages on word! Well, it took longer than it used too, but the chapter is also way longer than any other! Hope you liked it! Who knows how long the next one will take, but I'll get it out ASAP! now R-E-V-I-E-W! Tell me if you think I should just do this book, or continue on till the third book, or do all of them. And any other comments or advice, really. Keep reviewing and I'll keep writing as fast as possible. Now that it's the weekend I'll try to get another out by Sunday or Monday!**

R-E-V-I-E-W!


	7. GRYFFINDOR!

**A/N: ok I've been told that Sirius and Tonks are cousins once removed or whatever, and since I can't be bothered to change the previous chapters, and you guys probably won't read it, I'll just continue from now on as though they are cousins. Hope that's ok with everyone!**

**Thanks to SeekerGirl, lunalovegood1263, Carscard, Vampire Scooby, Tink05, CrayonsPink, HkariKage, ca186229, cozmic, aria wolf, Slytherin Ice Princess and simplicity.hope.life for adding me to their Alerts/faves.**

**Special thanks to ****New1Romantic****, for the idea. Enjoy!**

Sirius poked Lily just before she was about to begin reading. She glared at him and yelled, "NO!"

James shook his head and went over to kiss Lily on the cheek. She smiled and lifted the charm. James grinned.

"Thanks, Lily Flower. That's how it's done," he added so only Sirius would hear. "Go ahead, Lily."

**The Sorting Hat**

"Finally!"

**The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face **

'McGonagall' Sirius wrote

Lily took away his wand. He looked shocked.

**and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.**

"She's not," said Remus.

"But we cross her anyway," said James.

"Why?" asked Lily.

"We know she'll never expel us. Besides, we don't cross her as much as we do some other teachers."

"Like Slughorn," offered Remus.

"And Sinistra."

"And even –"

"All right. If you go through them all it might take all day!"

"Quite true."

"**The firs'-years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.**

**"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."**

**She pulled the door wide. The Entrance Hall was so big you could have fitted the whole of the Dursleys' house in it.**

"And even the Dursleys themselves. Which would be more of a challenge."

**The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.**

**They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. Harry could hear the drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right – the rest of the**

Sirius poked Lily gently again.

**school must already be here – but professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they normally would have done, peering about nervously. **

He poked James and gave him a pleading look.

"That look has never worked on me, Sirius, and you know it!"

"**Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start of term banquet will begin shortly, **

"That's always delicious,"

**but before you take your seats you will be sorted into your houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be like**

"your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room," recited James.

"How'd you know that's what she says?"

"Because that's what she always says! Said the exact same thing to us, remember?"

"No," said Lily.

**your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory and spend free time in your house common room.**

"Word for word!"

"Thank you, thank you," said James.

**The four houses are called Gryffindor,**

James cheered. Even Sirius was silently cheering.

**Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin.**

James booed and Sirius put his thumbs down as a form of silent booing.

**Each house has its own noble history **

"You can call Slytherin's History noble?" scoffed James.

"Okay James" Lily said "Moving on"

**and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards.**

Sirius poked Lily again.

"I wouldn't do that if I was you. Remember last time?"

Sirius shook his head.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!"

Sirius poked Lily and she turned her wand threateningly towards him. He sighed and sat silently.

**While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn you house points, while any rule breaking will lose house points.**

"This information could be important for you, James. You seem to have forgotten that rule breaking loses points." James shrugged and watched Sirius glare at Lily.

**At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours. **

"Unless it's Slytherin,"

**The Sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."**

"We didn't bother," said James. "We were soaking wet, though, so there wasn't really much we _could_ do."

**Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose.** **Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair. **

"Not gonna happen," chuckled James. "Besides, he's famous, so it doesn't matter."

"**I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall "Please wait quietly." She left the chamber. Harry swallowed. **

**"How exactly do they sort us into houses?" he asked Ron.**

**"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking." **

Sirius was laughing silently. 'I like those two,' he mouthed.

"You dike toes two?" frowned James. Sirius hung his head and looked pleadingly at Lily with large, puppy-dog eyes. She sighed and took off the charm.

"Thanks Lily."

"Don't make me have to do it again."

"No promises there, but I'll try."

"no you won't," sighed Lily.

"My wand?"

"Not yet."

**Harry's heart gave a horrible jolt. A test? In front of the whole school? But he didn't know any magic yet - what on earth would he have to do?**

"Just have to put on a hat."

**He hadn't expected something like this the moment he arrived. **

"Oh yes, it's so hard to put a hat on"

**He looked around anxiously and saw that everyone else looked terrified too. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learnt and wondering which one she'd need.**

"Merlin, imagine having to put up with her for the whole year!" said Tonks.

"Seven years," corrected James.

"That's right! _Seven _years!"

They shuddered.

"My wand?"

"Not yet."

**Harry tried hard not to listen to her. He'd never been more nervous, never, not even when he'd had to take a school report home to the Dursleys saying he'd somehow turned his teacher's wig blue.**

"Wow. He could do that before he even got a wand!" said Sirius, impressed.

"Before he even knew he was a wizard!"

**He kept his eyes fixed on the door. Any second now, Professor McGonagall would come back and lead him to his doom.**

"Dramatic much?" snorted Sirius.

"It runs in the family," said Remus, looking at James. James took it as a compliment.

**Then something happened which made him jump about a foot in the air - several people behind him screamed.**

"What is it?" asked James.

"Must be ghosts," said Sirius.

"Could be Peeves!" they said together, gleefully.

**"What the -?"He gasped. So did the people around him. About twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to each other and hardly glancing at the first-years. **

"Yup! Ghosts"

**They seemed to be arguing.** **What looked like a fat little monk**

"Fat Friar," said Sirius.

**was saying, "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance-"**

**"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves?**

"Peeves," grinned Sirius. "My wand?" he added hopefully.

"No."

**He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost - I say, what are you all doing here?" **

"Finally, one noticed!"

**A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first-years. **

"Nick!" said James and Sirius.

"He's the best ghost at Hogwarts!"

"You're only saying that 'cause he's the Gryffindor ghost!"

"Am not!"

**Nobody answered. **

**"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be sorted, I suppose?"**

"Noooo … they just felt like standing there," said James sarcastically.

**A few people nodded mutely. **

"Ah, they're no fun"

**"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old house, you know."**

"Not Harry!" said James. Lily frowned at him.

"Hufflepuff isn't that bad!"

"There's this really thick boy in my year who's in Hufflepuff. Horrible at everything!"

"What's his name?"

"Gilderoy Lockheart," said Tonks.

"That's a mouthful, innit?" said Sirius."Well, we'll be sure to have some fun with him over the next two years."

James and Remus grinned. Even Lily couldn't help it.

"My wand?"

"No."

**"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."**

**Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.**

**"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first-years, "and follow me." **

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" chanted Sirius.

**Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead,**

"I remember the feeling," said Lily.

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" Lily glared and they stopped.

**Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron behind him, and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.**

**Harry had never even imagined such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles which were floating in mid-air over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the Hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. **

"Think that's the longest we've gone without any interruptions, except when they were silenced," said Remus.

"Yeah, way to ruin that, Moody!"

"Shut up!"

**Professor McGonagall led the first-years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them.**

**The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver. Mainly to avoid all the staring eyes, Harry looked upwards and saw a velvety black ceiling dotted with stars. He heard Hermione whisper, "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside, I read about it in Hogwarts: A History." **

"She read that snore-fest?" scoffed Sirius.

"Even Lily didn't read that!"

"Hey!"

"No offence, Lily Flower."

"Yeah, sure!"

**It was hard to believe there was a ceiling there at all, and that the Great Hall didn't simply open up to the heavens.**

**Harry quickly looked down again as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first-years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. **

"The sorting hat"

"Wasn't that Gryffindors?"

"I think so"

**This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty. Aunt Petunia wouldn't have let it in the house. **

"Then I would take it just to annoy her," said Sirius.

"But they don't allow it to leave the school," said James.

"we'll have to find a way," said Sirius.

"You aren't seriously thinking about taking the hat, are you?" asked Lily.

"I do everything Sirius-ly! After all, I _am_ Sirius!"

"Nice one, Paddy!"

"Wasn't that great," said Remus.

**Maybe they had to try and get a rabbit out of it, Harry thought wildly,**

"Bit daft if he thinks that's what magic is," said Sirius.

"Watch what you call my boy!"said James.

**that seemed the sort of thing - noticing that everyone in the Hall was now staring at the hat, he stared at it too.**

**For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth - and the hat began to sing:**

__

_**"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me. **_

"We need to find a smarter hat than him!" said Sirius immediately.

"Yeah! We have to see the hat eat itself!"

"That would be awesome!"

_**You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can cap them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting hat can't see,**_

"Creepy thought, eh?"

_**So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,**_

They cheered.

"Where dwell the brave at heart!" exclaimed James, lifting an imaginary sword.

_**Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart; **_

They cheered again._**  
**_  
_**You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;**_

"Hufflepuffs are okay" Sirius said thoughtfully.

"'cept that Lockheart bloke," said James.

_**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a ready mind,  
**_

_**Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find there kind;**_

"Ravenclaw's not bad," said James.

_**Or perhaps in Slytherin **_

Sirius and James booed_**  
**_  
_**You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.**_

"That's the nicest way to put it, I think!"

_**So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!**_

"Nice song," said Remus. They agreed.

"Much better than our one!" said James.

**The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.**

**"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll." **

Sirius smirked

**Harry smiled weakly. Yes, trying on the hat was a lot better than having to do a spell, but he wished he could have tried it on without everyone watching.**

Lily nodded.

**The hat seemed to be asking rather a lot; Harry didn't feel brave or quick-witted or any of it at the moment.** **If only the hat had mentioned a house for people who felt a bit queasy, that would have been the one for him.**

"What would be the sense in that? Almost everyone is like that first day!"

"Except some Slytherins. Like the Malfoys."

**Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.**

"**When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"**

"Must be Alfred's daughter," said Remus.

**A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause - "HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.**

"Yup. He's in Hufflepuff too."

**The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. Harry saw the ghost of the Fat Friar waving merrily at her.**

**"Bones, Susan!" **

"So some of the Bones must be alive!" said Lily happily.

"Probably Susan … seeing as the girl's name is Susan."

**"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.**

**"Boot, Terry!"**

"Jeffery!"

**"RAVENCLAW!"**

**The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.** **"Brocklehurst, Mandy"**

"We don't know any Brocklehursts, do we?" asked Sirius. They shook their heads.

**went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender"**

"Greg's daughter, you reckon?"

"Greg?"

"Greg Brown, Gryffindor, finished school five years ago. Same year as Lucius, remember?" said James.

"Oh yeah, course I remember. Their fight in Transfiguration is famous!" exclaimed Sirius. "The whole school heard about it!"

"Yeah."

"Shame Lucius left," said Sirius. James stared at him. "What? it was fun hitting him with bludgers in second and third year!"

"Oh. Yeah, that's true."

**became the first new Gryffindor**

"Woohoo!"

**and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.**

"We do that too," said Sirius. "Every sorting!"

"**Bulstrode, Millicent"**

"Pravus!" growled Sirius.(**A/N pravus means evil in Latin, so I thought it would fit, but I made it up, as well as several other fathers' names**)

**then became the first Slytherin.**

"Boooooooo!"

**Perhaps it was Harry's imagination, after all he'd heard about Slytherin, but he thought they looked an unpleasant lot.**

"They are, Harry," said James. "Well, most of them," he added under Lily's glare. He didn't know why she was standing up for Snivellus, after he'd called her the M-word.

**He was starting to feel definitely sick now. He remembered being picked for teams during sports lessons at his old school. He had always been last to be chosen, not because he was no good, but because no one wanted Dudley to think they like him.**

"Gits!"

**"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"**

"Marcus, finished Hogwarts couple of years ago," nodded James.

**"HUFFLEPUFF!"**

"Marcus was in Ravenclaw," mused Sirius.

"Maybe his mother is in Hufflepuff," suggested James.

"You don't always go to the house your parents and siblings go to!" said Remus. "Sirius is proof of that!"

**Sometimes, Harry noticed, the hat shouted out the house at once, but at others it took a little while to decide.**

"Took about four seconds with me," said James proudly.

"Took its time with me," muttered Sirius.

"Didn't take that long with me, but it wasn't just two seconds either," said Lily.

"Same here," Remus said.

**"Finnigan, Seamus"**

"Don't know any Finnigans," said James.

**the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor. **

They cheered again.

**"Granger, Hermione!"**

**Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.**

"Who does that?" asked James.

**"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat.**

"No!" groaned James. "Now Harry's gonna have to have her in all his classes!"

"He might not be in Gryffindor!"

"Don't say that, Lily!"

"He can go anywhere, and it'll be fine!"

**Ron groaned.**

**A horrible thought struck Harry, as horrible thoughts always do when you're very nervous.**

"So true."

**What if he wasn't chosen at all?** **What if he just sat there with the hat over his eyes for ages, until Professor McGonagall jerked it off his head and said there had obviously been a mistake and he'd better get back on the train?**

"that can't happen!" said Sirius. "Can it?" he added uncertainly.

"Don't think so," said James.

"Certainly don't think it's ever happened before!"

**When Neville Longbottom,**

"Frank!" they all, except Tonks, said happily.

**the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool.** **The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted "GRYFFINDOR", **

They cheered again

"Good for him!"

**Neville ran off still wearing it,**

They all laughed.

"That must've been pretty funny."

**and had to jog amid gales of laughter to give it to "MacDougal, Morag."**

"Who?" James asked the rest.

"Beats me."

**Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"**

"Typical," snorted Sirius.

"well, you can't blame the hat for not wanting to touch his filthy hair," said James.

**Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle,**

"Both morons, like their fathers."

**looking pleased with himself.**

**There weren't many people left now.**

**"Moon"**

"Think I've heard that one," Sirius said unsurely.

"David, in Ravenclaw."

**... "Nott"**

"Urgh"

**... "Parkinson ...**

"Slytherin," spat James.

**then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil" ...**

"Rings a bell …"

"Amir, in Gryffindor," offered Sirius. "Year above us."

**then "Perks, Sally-Anne" ... and then, at last- "Potter, Harry!" **

"Go Harry!"

**As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall.**

"Of course."

**"Potter, did she say?"**

"Yes, she did," whispered Sirius mockingly.

**"The Harry Potter?"**

"How many Harry Potters do you know?"

**The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the Hall full of people craning to get a good look at him. Next second he was looking at the black inside of the hat. He waited.**

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" chanted Sirius.

**"Hmm," said a small voice in his ear. "Difficult. Very difficult. **

Sirius stopped chanting.

"Come on, Gryffindor!" yelled James.

"Calm down, James," said Remus.

**Plenty of courage, I see. **

"Exactly!" cried Lily. "So Gryffindor!"

"What happened to he can go to any house?"

"Shut up, Sirius!"

**Not a bad mind, either. There's talent, oh my goodness, yes - and a nice thirst to prove yourself, now that's interesting ... So where shall I put you?"**

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!" chanted Sirius again.

James and, to everyone's surprise, Lily joined in.

Then they realized that Lily had to read, so she stopped.

**Harry gripped the edges of the stool and thought, "Not Slytherin, not Slytherin."**

"That's right, Harry!" said Tonks, also joining in the chanting.

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"

**"Not Slytherin, eh?" said the small voice. "Are you sure? **

"Yes!" said Lily.

The chanting seemed to be infectious; Remus had now started as well. Lily seemed upset that she couldn't take part.

"Gryffindor! Gryffindor! Gryffindor!"

**You could be great, you know, it's all here in your head, and Slytherin will help you on the way to greatness, no doubt about that -** **no?**

"GRYFFINDOR! GRYFFINDOR!"

**Well, if you're sure -** **better be GRYFFINDOR!" **

"YES!" They all cheered.

**Harry heard the hat shout the last word to the whole Hall. He took off the hat and walked shakily towards the Gryffindor table. He was so relieved to have been chosen and not put in Slytherin, **

"So are we Harry."

**he hardly noticed that he was getting the loudest cheer yet.**

"Of course!"

**Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!"**

James and Sirius grinned.

**Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, giving Harry the sudden, horrible feeling he'd just plunged into a bucket of ice-cold water. **

"I hate it when that happens," shuddered James.

"Yeah!"

"But it's way worse when they walk right through you," said Sirius.

**He could see the High Table properly now. At the end nearest him sat Hagrid, who caught his eye and gave him the thumbs-up. Harry grinned back. And there, in the centre of the High Table, in a large gold chair, sat Albus Dumbledore. Harry recognized him at once from the card he'd got out of the Chocolate Frog on the train. Dumbledore's silver hair was the only thing in the whole Hall that shone as brightly as the ghosts.**

They chuckled.

**Harry spotted Professor Quirrell, too, the nervous young man from the Leaky Cauldron. He was looking very peculiar in a large purple turban.**

"what d'you reckon is under it?"

"His head, Sirius," said Lily.

Sirius shrugged.

**And now there were only three people left to be sorted. "Turpin, Lisa" became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now.**

"Must be horrible, being one of the last."

**Harry crossed his fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!" **

"YES!" they cheered

**Harry clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to him.**

**"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry as "Zabini, Blaise"**

"Urgh."

**was made a Slytherin.**

**Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.**

"Hey wait a minute!" said Sirius suddenly.

"What?"

"I seem to recall a bet …" they looked confused.

"that I made with James …" James frowned.

"which means … " James gulped.

"You owe me three galleons!"

"What?" asked Tonks.

"Don't you remember? James said Hermione would be a Ravenclaw, and I bet that she wouldn't! Three Galleons, mate!"

James handed him the money moodily, muttering something that sounded strangely like "thought he'd forgotten."

Sirius grinned. "Can't believe I almost forgot!"

**Harry looked down at his empty gold plate. He had only just realized how hungry he was. The pumpkin pasties seemed ages ago.**

**Albus Dumbledore had got to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there. **

"Nothing probably could" Lily said

**"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you!"**

"He's definitely a nutter," said James.

"A bloody brilliant nutter," corrected Sirius.

"Yeah, 'cause he made me head boy!"

"Urgh"

**He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not.**

**"Is he - a bit mad?" he asked Percy uncertainly. **

"Just went through that."

"And he is."

**"Mad?" said Percy airily. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"  
Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, chips, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup and, for some reason, mint humbugs.**

"Yeah, those're weird."

**The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry**

"They did so!"

**but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry wanted, even if it made him sick.**

James looked livid.

"Git."

**Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the humbugs and began to eat. It was delicious.**

**"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, **

"He says that to us too," said James.

"If he's so upset about being a ghost, why didn't he just move on?" asked Sirius.

"What?"

"Move on," he explained to Tonks. "You know, to the afterlife or whatever is waiting there. Wizards –"

"And witches"

"fine, and witches, get to decide if they want to some back as ghosts, see. If they're, like, umm … a little help here?"

"If they were killed in a sudden way, or they have unfinished business … " offered Remus.

"Exactly. Geddit?"

"Yeah … sort of. But –"

"Forget it, back to the book!" Tonks glared at Sirius, but eventually shrugged.

**watching Harry cut up his steak. "Can't you-?"**

**"I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost.**

'He doesn't need to though!"

**"I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicolas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower." **

James snorted. "Nearly Headless Nick, really."

**"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you - you're Nearly Headless Nick!"**

"see?"

**"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy -" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnegan interrupted.**

**"Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?" Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted. **

"I doubt it is"

**"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell on to his shoulder as if it was on a hinge.**

**Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. **

"No duh!"

**Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back on to his neck, coughed and said, "So - new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help **

**us win the House Championship this year? Gryffindor have never gone so long without winning.**

"No way!"

**Slytherin have got the cup six years in a row!**

"NOO!"

**The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable - he's the Slytherin ghost."**

"You know the grey lady said –" began James, but he changed his mind. "Never mind, it's not important. Go ahead."

**Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements. **

"Good."

**"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.**

**"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately. **

"You guys must've asked," said Lily, turning to the Marauders.

"You just assume that we'd be rude enough to ask him that?" said James, feigning indignation.

"Maybe we did, maybe we didn't," said Sirius mysteriously.

"He means we did," said Remus.

"And?"

"He didn't tell us," said Remus.

"Yeah, but, " began Sirius, but he looked at Remus and stopped.

"But what?" asked Tonks.

"But we know he killed someone," said James vaguely. Lily frowned at him.

They wanted to tell, but the Grey Lady had told them not to tell anyone else so …

**When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before.**

"ah, those marvelous house-elves!"

**A moment later the puddings appeared. Blocks of ice-cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries,**

"Mum says I used to call them strawbabies when I was younger," said James randomly.

"Who cares?"

**jelly, rice pudding...**

**As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families. **

"Poor Harry"

**"I'm half and half," said Seamus. "Me Dad's a Muggle. **

"That's why we didn't know his dad," said Sirius.

**Mam didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him." **

They all laughed.

"That's nice of her."

**The others laughed.**

**"What about you, Neville?" said Ron. **

"Franks son, right?"

"Must be. How many Longbottoms do you reckon there are?"

**"Well, my Gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville,**

"**His Gran?" asked James slowly.**

**"but the family thought I was a Muggle for ages.**

"Doesn't he mean Squib?"

**My great-uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me - he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned –**

"You know, when I Easter with Alice once, her Uncle Algie did weird stuff like that too," said Lily thoughtfully.

"Reckon her and Frank get married?"

"Well, they're going out now, so it could be."

**but nothing happened until I was eight. Great-uncle Algie came round for tea and was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my great-auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go.**

They all looked shocked.

**But I bounced – **

"Good"

"Did he say _bounced?"_

**all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased. Gran was crying, she was so happy.** **And you should have seen their faces when I got in here - they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. **

"That doesn't happen."

**Great-uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."**

"Some gift."

**On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons**

Sirius snorted.

**(I do hope they start straight away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else,** **of course, it's supposed to be very difficult -"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing -") **

"Urgh. What an annoying girl! Poor Harry!"

**Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the high table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair,**

"No!" said James, horrified.

"Relax, it could be anyone," said Remus, though he didn't seem certain.

**a hooked nose**

"Please God no!" cried Sirius.

**and sallow skin.**

"Merlin NO!"

**It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes - and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.** "**Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.**

"Is he okay?"

**"What is it?" asked Percy.**

**"N-nothing."**

**The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off the feeling Harry had from the teacher's look - a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all. **

"Not him!"

**"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.**

**"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor**

"Merlin, don't let it be him! Anyone else! Anyone other than –"

**Snape.**

"NOOO!" yelled James and Sirius.

**He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to - everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job.** **Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."**

"Bet he does," muttered Sirius.

"Sirius!"

"Well I don't see why you're defending him, after what he called you!" snapped Sirius.

"Oi! Watch what you say to my wife!" said James, even though he agreed with Sirius.

"Shut up, Prongs," threatened Sirius jokingly.

"What if I don't?"

"Then I'll do this," he said, simultaneously flicking up his wand. James was once again pulled into the air, hanging by his ankle.

"Oi!"

"Shut it."

"Lily," pleaded James.

"I told you, I have no idea how to get you down!"

"You could –" Sirius silenced him. James moved around silently, held in mid-air by some invisible force. Lily watched him for a while, amused, before continuing,

**Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again.**

**At last, the puddings too disappeared and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The Hall fell silent.**

"Just like James," said Sirius. The others laughed. James glared.

**"Ahem - just a few more words now we are all fed and watered. **

"Fed and watered?"

"He must think they're horses."

**I have a few start-of-term notices to give you."**

"**First-years should note that the forest in the grounds is forbidden to all pupils.** **And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."**

Sirius grinned at Remus.

**Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.**

"Those two are great. They're the next generation of trouble-makers!"

"**I have also been asked my Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used in the corridors.**

"Like anyone ever listens to that old git!"

"Surprised he's still here, actually," said Remus

"Yeah. I thought we'd send him running," joked Sirius.

" And besides, everyone still uses magic in the corridors!" added Tonks.

James' head started to hurt. It couldn't be good for you to be upside down for so long.

**Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.**

"Must be new."

James could feel blood rushing to his head. He groaned silently, but no one noticed.

**And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to anyone who does not wish to die a most painful death."**

"Is that like another crazy Dumbledore thing, or is he actually serious?" asked Tonk.

"Actually, I'm Si –"

"Oh shut up. That's so old!"

"Old is go-"

"Shut up!"

**Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.**

James felt faint. That gave him an idea.

"**He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy. **

"No –"

"Sirius! We just got through this!"

"**Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. **

James closed his eyes, hanging there, unnoticed.

"**It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere – the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that.**

Sirius looked at James.

"What's up with Prongs?" he asked. They all looked at James.

"Oh God, he's fainted!" cried Lily. James forced himself not to grin.

"Merlin, Padfoot! Let him down!" James fell down in a heap, and he made an effort not to move as he hit the ground.

"Should we get some water?" asked Sirius, worried.

"Yeah, get some water."

Sirius began to run, but Lily stopped him. "What the hell are you doing?"

"Going to get –"

"Are you a wizard or not?" she cried. "Aguamenti!"

She poured the water on his head. James tried not to choke on it.

"he's not waking up!" said Lily. Remus looked worried, but he noticed something that had escaped the others' attention: James had a smirk on his face for the tiniest fraction of a second. Remus relaxed.

"Should we – ARGH!" yelled Sirius. James couldn't help himself, and he jumped up, laughing like mad. Remus joined him.

"You were pretending!" Lily cried, outraged.

"You should've seen the look on your faces," gasped James, clutching his sides. "So how'd you know?" he asked Remus.

"What?" Tonks said.

"He knew I was faking," said James.

"You knew!"

"I figured it out. He was smiling a little."

"Damn, after I tried so hard not to!"

Lily conjured up several things to throw at him, including a small goblet, a heavy book, and another stress ball. James laughed as he flicked them away with his wand or dodged them. Then Lily finally made contact: the Harry Potter book hit James squarely in the forehead.

"Ow!"

"Serves you right!" exclaimed Lily.

Sirius grinned, taking some money from Remus and Tonks.

"I knew she'd hit him!"

"Alright, already," grumbled James. "Back to the book?" he picked up the book and gave it to Sirius, who gave it to Lily; James was afraid to go near Lily, though he was inexplicably grinning.

"Where were we?" asked Tonks

"Dumbledore told them they couldn't go into the third floor corridor, and Percy was saying that he usually gives a reason, and something about the Forbidden Forest," replied James, still grinning.

"Why are you grinning?" demanded Lily.

"You were worried," he said happily.

"What?"

"You were worried about me."

Lily blushed slightly. "So? We were all worried!"

"Yes, but you were _really, _worried!"

"What?"

"You care about me!" he said, grinning even more broadly.

Lily blushed some more. She didn't know what to say to that, so she continued to read. James recognized his victory, and went over to sit beside Lily, and put his arm around her.

**the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that.**

"Never stopped us, did it?" grinned James.

"You already read that," Sirius pointed out.

"So? We all forgot, didn't we?"

**I think he might have told us Prefects, at least." **

"Oh yes, because you're _so _important"

"**And now before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.**

"Awesome! We should sing too!"

**Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.** **Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick as if he were trying to get a fly off the end and a long golden ribbon**

"Better than green," muttered Sirius. "But red would've been better."

**Flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself snake-like into words.**

"**Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"**

**And the school bellowed: **

"Stop, Lily," said James. He flicked his wand and out flew the words, and they all sang the song at different paces.

"_**Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,  
Teach us something please,  
Whether we be old and bald  
Or young with scabby knees,  
Our heads could do with filling  
With some interesting stuff,  
For now they're bare and full of air,  
Dead flies and bits of fluff,  
So teach us things worth knowing,  
Bring back what we've forgot,  
Just do your best, we'll do the rest  
And learn until our brains all rot."**_

They had all finished, and waited for Sirius, who was singing a very slow funeral march, to finish.

**Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march.**

Sirius grinned. "Those guys are just like us!"

"Oh Merlin, Hogwarts doesn't need another pair of you two!" groaned Lily.

"That's nice!"

**Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand, and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest**

"**Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here!**

"Really?"

**And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"**

"What's with him and horses? He says that to us as well, sometimes!"

**Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was wondering how much further they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.**

"At least he didn't get lost, like _someone!" _ said Remus, looking at Sirius.

"You did _not _get lost!" cried Lily.

Sirius grinned. "I accidentally followed the Hufflepuffs," he said sheepishly.

"Moron!"

**A bundle of walking sticks was floating in mid-air ahead of them and as Percy took a step towards them they started throwing themselves at him. **

"Peeves!" Sirius said ecstatically

**"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first-years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves - show yourself."  
A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered. **

They all chuckled

**"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"**

"He's going to tell on him? Little baby!"

**There was a pop and a little man with wicked dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.**

**"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle firsties! What fun!" **

"Said the same to us, didn't he?" asked James.

"Yeah," replied Sirius.

"How would you know? You got lost!"

"I found my way back by then!"

**He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.**

**"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.**

**Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head.**

"Poor kid."

**They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.**

**"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy as they set off again.**

**"The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us Prefects. **

"Prefects? If he doesn't listen to teachers, or even Dumbledore, what makes him think he'll list to a stupid _prefect?" _ Wondered Sirius.

"He listens to us sometimes, though," interjected James.

"He does?"

"Yeah."

"How come?"

"We're fellow pranksters," said James simply, as if it were obvious.

**Here we are."**

**At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress. **

**"Password?" she said.**

**"Caput Draconis,"**

"Weird password! Sounds like _Draco_nis."

"I think we've had that one before," said James.

"Can't be," replied Remus. "they never keep the same one twice. I think it was Caput Drionis or something like that."

"Oh yeah …"

**said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it - Neville needed a leg up -** **and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.**

**Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase - they were obviously in one of the towers - they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep-red velvet curtains.** **Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed.**

**"Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets." **

"Oh, Wormy," sighed Sirius.

**Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once**. **Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream.**

**He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once,**

"No! Don't!" Sirius cried

**because it was his destiny.**

"No it isn't!"

**Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin;**

"Good"

**it got heavier; he tried to pull it off, but it tightened painfully - and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it **

"Git"

**-** **then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, **

"Greasy git"

**whose laugh became high and cold - there was a burst of green light**

"Oh no … that's … " began Sirius, but James glared at him to make him shut up; Lily was almost crying again. James hugged her.

**and Harry woke, sweating and shaking. He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.**

"Good," said Sirius. "Now –"

"I can read," James cut in. Lily handed him the book.

"Hey!"

"Tough."

**A/N hope you liked it. Sorry but it's not that long.**

**Ok, loads of ppl replied to my question last time (about writing all of the books or not) and I thank you for that. I got different replies. Most wanted me to do all if I had the time, but some wanted me to skip the ones that don't much involve the Marauders. There's a few things I want to say:**

**I want to do CoS because of the Car ride … that will be awesome to see their reactions, and the part where he loses all his bones.**

**GoF because I want to do the reactions to all the events … like what they say about dragons, merpeople etc. and Voldemort coming back.**

**HBP because it has a lot about Snape and stuff, and what they think of Draco.**

**DH because I want to do whether they think Harry's doing the right thing or not etc. and because I want to sort of finish the series off. And I also want them to know that Snape was a good guy!**

**This does not mean I'll do them all, these are just some of my reasons. Now, tell me what you guys think again, and R-E-V-I-E-W! I know who's got me on alerts or faves, so I'll want a review!!**

**Until next time,**

**Zeinab**


	8. Sirius Gets Even

**A/N okay I think I worded that last A/N wrong. What I meant was, some people wanted me to skip CoS and GoF, and I was giving my reasons for those books. But I always intended to do PoA! I was just asking if I should skip any of the others, or go through them all. I appreciate all the reviews though!**

**Anyway, right now I think I'll go up to at least the third book.**

**Thanks to moonbz, Neokstar, warrior4, dollarbanks, vurigemaan, PrincezzSaku4eva, darkangel24700, Swiften, vampire-emo-slave, ted128, Elspeth25, for adding me to their Alerts/Faves!**

**Enjoy the Chapter!**

"Hey, isn't it about time for lunch?" asked Sirius.

"No. there's still loads of time. We can get in like three or four more chapters!" said James.

"James! We can't go through the entire day reading this book!" said Lily.

"Why not?"

"We have _homework _to finish! Unless you want to leave it all 'till the last minute!"

"Yeah, we always do that. Let's do that!"

"Guys! This is serious - No, not a word about that, Sirius! – we are Newt students, in case you've forgotten! We can't spend all our free time reading this book!"

"She's right, you know," said Tonks.

"What do you know? You're only a firstie!" said Sirius.

"Stop calling me that!"

"What should I call you then? Nymphedora?"

"You dog!"

"you –"

"People!" yelled James. "We've just established that we can't read the book all the time, so let's not waste the precious time we have arguing!"

"I never thought I'd hear a fellow Marauder say anything like that," said Remus, laughing.

**The Potions Master**

"That grease ball gets his own chapter, but me and Moony aren't even _mentioned!"_ Sirius yelled.

"Not even Wormtail," added Remus.

"We got almost all of a chapter," said James smugly. "Dumbledore and Hagrid were talking about us!"

"That doesn't count!"

"Does so!"

"Does not!"

"Does so!"

"Does –"

Tonks was getting annoyed. She Silenced both of them, then released them both again."What happened to no arguing?"

**"There, look."**

**"Where?"**

**"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."**

"Nice description"

"**wearing the glasses?"**

**"Did you see his face?"**

"No, did you?" mocked Sirius.

**"Did you see his scar?"**

"Wow, that's subtle!"

**Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day.**

"That would get annoying," said Sirius.

"Happens to us all the time though," said James.

"Yeah, but it's fun stuff. Like the stuff we get up to, and the girls I go out with … you know. Stuff we like. But that …"

"That's true, I guess."

**People queuing outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring.**

"Merlin, didn't their parents teach them any manners?"

**Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes.**

"Everyone gets lost first day!" said James.

"Yeah!" said Sirius.

"Just because you two got lost doesn't mean everyone does!"

**There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: **

They stared at the book.

"One hundred and forty-two!" James and Sirius said.

"I knew there were loads of them, but one hundred and forty-two! Wow!"

**wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday;**

"That one's the best!"

**some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump**

"Wormy keeps forgetting to jump it. He _always _gets stuck!"

**Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked them politely,**

"Hah! Oh yeah! There's one on the fourth floor, I think, that Paddy yelled at!"

"Sirius!"

"What? it wouldn't let me through, so I shouted at it!"

"And threw spells at it," added Remus.

"And swore at it."

"And some more spells."

"Yeah, they get the point!"

"So what happened?" asked Lily.

"The door never lets him through now. He always has to go the long way."

**or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending.**

"Hehe. Wormy ran right into one of them!"

"Why do you suppose they do that?"

"Probably just to annoy us."

"I'd do the same thing if I were a wall," said Sirius.

**It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other and Harry was sure the coats of armour could walk.**

"They can"

**The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open.**

"That's the worst!"

**Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction,**

"Not us"

"I don't blame him"

**but Peeves the poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase**

They grinned.

**if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop waste-paper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"**

"We taught him that," said Sirius, grinning.

"We also told him how to annoy McGonagall the best."

"How?"

"Not gonna tell."

"It's a Marauders secret."

"Fine, Don't tell us. Keep reading, then."

**Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch.**

They all shuddered "He's definitely worse"

**Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of Filch on their very first morning.**

"Wow. They beat us!"

"Yeah, we didn't get there 'till third or fourth day!"

"And we were actually trying to!"

"Idiots!" said Lily.

"We know," they both replied.

"How old is that guy? He was here when we first came, and he's still there like twenty-something years from now!" said Lily.

"Must be bloody immortal!" they shuddered at the thought.

**Filch found them trying to force their way through a door which unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor.**

"We would've done the same!"

"But we would've done it on purpose!"

"Yeah, not by accident."

"What d'you reckon is down there?"

"_Down _there?"

"You know what I mean!"

"Must be that thing from the vault. That little package," said Remus.

"But how would that cause a horrible death?" said Lily, thinking about what Dumbledore had said.

"You never know. Deadly things can come in little packages," said Sirius, looking at Tonks. She glared at him, but let it go.

"Tonks isn't that bad," said Remus. Tonks smiled at him.

"You haven't seen her when she's all hyper, or when she's at home. She keep changing her stupid face and jumping out of nowhere to scare me!" said Sirius.

**He wouldn't believe they were lost,** **was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued**

"Thank God!" said Lily.

**by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.**

"why him?"

"Who would've thought."

**Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, **

"That cat is _still _there?" James said

"Cats are only supposed to live for like a few years!" said Sirius.

"Bet he'd used some charm or something on her to keep it alive!" said James.

"Can't have! That's too advanced for him!"

"What?" asked Lily.

"He's a squib," said James simply.

"Really?"

"Mhmm!"

**a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamp-like eyes just like Filch's**

"Yup, that's her" James confirmed

**She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later.**

"How do they communicate like that?"

"Who knows?"

"She always brings him around in like, two minutes!"

"Unless you stop her from leaving!"

"You didn't!" gasped Lily.

"We did!" said Sirius gleefully.

"Locked her in a broom closet."

"And a toilet, once."

"My favourite was the time when we locked her in the Room of Requirement."

"Course, we thought it was just a broom closet at the time."

"Filch couldn't find her for _days!_"

"Reckon he knew it was us, though, 'cause he kept "Secretly" following us, hoping we'd lead him straight to her. Never happened."

"How'd he find her, then?"

"Must've stumbled across it some time."

**Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone**

"Except for us!"

"Yeah! No one can beat our m-"

"Sirius!"

"Oh, right. Sorry."

"What?" asked Tonks and Lily.

"Nothing!"

"I'm not stupid, Jamie!" said Tonks.

"Could've fool me," muttered Sirius, as James yelled, "Don't call me Jamie!"

"Alright, the book, people," said Remus loudly.

**(except perhaps the Weasley twins)**

"So much like us, those two," said Sirius, smiling.

**and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him **

"Teachers do too"

**and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.**

"I have" Sirius said

"Me too" James muttered

"Me three," said Tonks.

"Wow, already!"

"Well, we did in our first year too," said Sirius.

"Yeah, Paddy, but we're the _Marauders._ That is like our job. But Tonks … we may have a future Marauder on our hands!" Tonks grinned.

"I've kicked her too," said Lily. Shocked looks met her words.

"No way!"

"Yes! That cat's a right pain!"

"Peter tried, too."

"Tried?"

"He missed, and the cat scratched him."

"So that's where he got that scratch on his face!"

**And then, once you managed to find them, there were the lessons themselves.**

"That's a different matter."

**There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.**

Remus snorted

**They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout,**

"new."

"Course!"

"Idiot!"

"Don't call me an idiot, you idiot!"

"I'll call you whatever I want, you mangled mutt!"

"deer-in-the-headlights!"

"Greasy Sn –" but James stopped himself just in time; Sirius was turning red.

**where they learnt how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi and found out what they were used for.**

**Easily the most boring lesson was History of Magic,**

"They'll never have a new teacher for that!"

**Which was the only class taught by a ghost.**

"see?"

**Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff-room fire and got up the next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him.**

Sirius and James grinned.

**Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates and got Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.**

"You know, I just made up the names in my Owl, and I got a D," said James. "Better than I had expected. Not that it matters, though. Who would really take History of magic as a Newt?"

"I made up the names too, and I got a damn E!" said Sirius.

"No way!"

"Yeah!"

"Pure luck!"

**Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to be seen over his desk.**

"That didn't change, then."

**At the start of their first lesson he took the register, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.**

They laughed

"Poor Flitwick. He's not that bad," said James.

"Then why do you annoy him?" asked Lily.

"Well, we can't have favourites, Lily. We have to be equally annoying to all teachers, or it just isn't fair!" said Sirius matter-of-factly.

Lily rolled her eyes.

**Professor McGonagall was again different.** **Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross.** **Strict and clever she gave them a talking-to the moment they had sat down in her first class.**

"She did the same to us"

"But she had to repeat it to us when _some people _decided not to listen and nearly blew up the room halfway through the class," said Remus, looking pointedly at the Deadly Duo. They grinned.

"You did not!" said Tonks.

"They did," confirmed Lily.

**"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."**

"We were warned," said Sirius.

"About a million times each," muttered Lily.

"But she always let us back in."

**Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again.**

"Hasn't changed her teaching tactics, has she?" said James.

"Yup. Turned her table into a pig for us, too," said Sirius.

"And us," said Tonks.

"Typical Minnie."

**They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time.**

"No" Lily said.

"We figured out how to do that outside of class, third or fourth year," said James, grinning.

"At least, me and Prongs did," said Remus. "Paddy here never quite got the hang of it. Not even when we did it in class!"

"I can do it now! Which is more than you can say about Peter!"

"True."

**After making a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle.**

"I got it first try!" James announced proudly

**By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.**

"Didn't smile at me," said James.

"You had already earned yourself a detention, so why would she smile?" Lily said.

"I guess you're right there. And it seems my son hasn't inherited my Transfiguration talents," he added with a sigh.

**The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts,**

"I think everyone does"

"except the teachers, when they see me and James walk in," said Sirius.

"Teacher_**s?**_ As in plural?" Tonks asked.

"yeah, we've had a bunch of different ones for Defense."

"How many have you guys had?"

"Six. New one every year."

"People reckon the job's cursed," James said.

"It's been ages since any Defense teacher has lasted longer than a year."

"I think it's just because we scare them away."

"Weird, innit?" said Tonks, ignoring James' last comment.

**But Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days.**

"What kind of lunatic did Dumbledore choose to teach my son?" demanded James.

"He's not just teaching Harry, you know," said Lily, though she seemed to agree.

**His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie,**

"suuure it was. And I'm the Queen of England," Sirius said in a mock-posh voice.

"Funny how you said _Queen, _and not _King,"_ teased James.

"Shut up!"

"I'm just saying."

"Shut up and read."

"Well, how can I read if I shut up?"

"You know what I meant!"

"No I don't, actually."

"Prongs!" warned Sirius.

"Paddy!" replied James in the same tone.

"Potter!"

"Black!"

"Idiots!" said Lily.

They ignored her, and were about to start fighting when Lily's practiced hand tied them up. Sirius growled at her.

"Don't make me Silence you as well!"

"But, Lily flower, I have to read!" Lily sighed and untied James.

"But Lily flower, I have to get up," said Sirius. Lily silenced him. He glared at her.

**but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnegan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather;**

"Real convincing!" said Remus. Sirius thrashed around until he was beside James, and nudged him with his head.

"No! Get away!"

**for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.**

Sirius' eyes went wide as he considered what else might be under the turban.

"Thank Merlin I've already Silenced him," said Lily.

**Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else. **

"'course not. There're loads of muggle-borns, and even people who've always been wizards-"

"Or witches"

"Or witches – have a hard time. It's not just Harry," finished James.

**Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like him, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.**

**Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.**

"Ah, congratulations!" said James.

Sirius wriggled his arm free of the ropes and wrote, 'what? I got lost too. Would never have made it if it weren't for moony here. I would be happy too!'

"How does he do that?"

"Merlin, Paddy! Work on your punctuation!"

'Shut up COMMA Capital J James!' he wrote furiously. They all laughed.

**"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge."Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron.**

James groaned.

"**Snape's head of Slytherin house. They all say he favors them - we'll be able to see if it's true."**

"It will be"

**"Wish McGonagall favoured us," said Harry.**

'Not going to happen'

**Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor house, but it hadn't stopped her giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.**

'Never does'

**Just then, the post arrived. **

'Yay, Post!'

Lily took away Sirius' wand. All he could do was glare at her as it flew to her hand.

**Harry had got used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast,**

"I suppose that would be a shock"

"I nearly fell off my chair!" said Lily.

"Key word there being _nearly._ Wormy, on the other hand, _actually_ fell off his chair," said James.

"No!" said Tonks.

"Yeah. Honest."

"He's a bit … a bit slow, right?" said Tonks.

"That's the nicest way to put it, i reckon," said James.

"He's not as stupid as you guys would think he is," said Lily mysteriously.

**circling the tables until they saw their owners and dropping letters and packages on to their laps.**

"My owl always lands in my food!" said James.

"Hey, remember Paddy's first owl from home?" asked Remus. Sirius had a horrified look on his face.

"What?" asked Tonks eagerly. Sirius shook his head furiously. Remus laughed.

"Howler. Whole Hall heard his mother yell at him for … you know, I can't remember what she was yelling at him for," said Remus.

"Awww!" said Tonks.

"I think I was something about … yeah, it was for getting into Gryffindor, wasn't it?" said Lily. Sirius looked relieved.

"That was part of it … but – ARGH! " Sirius jumped up, still tied down, and landed on top of James.

Lily laughed.

"Fine! I won't tell!" James cried. "Now get off!"

**Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls.**

"My owl does that"

**This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl **

"That's a very specific position, if you ask me," said James.

Sirius wriggled some more, and within seconds he was free. In another few seconds, Tonks had him tied up again. He groaned silently.

**and dropped a note on to Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once.**

"Eager isn't he?"

_**Dear Harry,**_** (it said, in a very untidy scrawl)**

"Hagrid!"

_**I know you get Friday afternoons off, **_

"I like those afternoons"

_**so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? **_

"Just don't eat the rock cakes"

_**I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.Hagrid.**_

"Told you it was him!"

**Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled 'Yes, please, see you later' on the back of the note and sent off Hedwig again. It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to,**

"Yeah, otherwise how would he be able to stand Snivelly?"

**because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far.**

"Snape's a git," said James.

**At the start-of-term-banquet, Harry had got the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong.**

"Huh?"

**Snape didn't dislike Harry –**

"Who is he and what'd he do with Snape?"

**he hated him.**

"That's more like it."

**Potions lessons took place in one of the dungeons. **

"Merlin, Paddy, how'd you get free again?"

Sirius had, once again, freed himself. He smiled, and pointed first at Lily, then at her wand, then at his mouth.

"No!" He sighed, then pointed at his own wand, in her hand.

"NO!"

Sirius shrugged. Lily didn't bother to tie him up again.

**Potions lessons took place in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle**

"Yup, it is."

**and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.**

"Disgusting!"

"Only Snivellus would have that kind of crap in his classroom."

**Snape, like Flitwick, **

"Hey! He's nothing like Flitwick!"

**started the class by taking the register, and like Flitwick,**

"Stop comparing them!"

**he paused at Harry's name.**

"He's going to taunt him!"

"James! Stop interrupting!"

"But I'm the one that's reading! I can't interrupt myself, can I?"

"Well, just read the book! Enough with all those comments!"

"Well excuse me for wanting to make the book more fun!"

**"Ah, yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new - celebrity."**

"See? I told you so!"

**Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands.**

"I hate it when Lucius used to do that," said James. "And Crabbe and Goyle senior."

**Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's,**

"Don't compare him to Hagrid! Hagrid's way better!"

**but they had none of Hagrid's warmth.**

"Exactly."

**They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.**

"Dark, twisted, greasy, evil, hellish –"

"Enough, James," said Lily.

**"You are here to learn the subtle science, and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word - like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort.**

James snorted "Because they're scared of him"

**"As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, **

"Someone's in love!"

**the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death –**

"Really?" James said, somewhat interested. "Can you do that, Lils?"

"I don't know. Never tried."

"'Course Snivelly would've tried to do that!"

**if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."**

"everyone can't be that bad! He probably scares them half to death so they can't do anything!"

**More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.**

James snorted. Sirius, who was still Silenced and wandless, could only make a face.

**"Potter!" said Snape suddenly.**

"Look! He's already picking on my son!"

**"What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"**

"We didn't learn that till third year! How does he expect Harry to know? Especially since he's lived with great, ugly Muggles!"

**Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was, Hermione's hand shot into the air.**

James couldn't help snorting.

**"I don't know, sir," said Harry.**

**Snape's lips curled into a sneer. "Tut, tut - fame clearly isn't everything."**

"Git."

Sirius snarled silently.

**He ignored Hermione's hand.**

**"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar**

"It's his first lesson, damn it!" growled Lily. They looked at her in shock. "Don't look at me like that!"

**Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was.**

**He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.**

**"I don't know, sir.""Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"**

"He did!" James cried "He just didn't memorise it!"

"Who does?"

"Hermione Granger," Remus answered.

**Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes.**

"Don't! You might go blind!" said James dramatically.

**He had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?**

"Git."

**Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand. "What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane**

"Aren't they the same thing?"

"Didn't do that 'till third year either!"

**At this, Hermione stood up, he hand stretching towards the dungeon ceiling.**

"Blimey, she's eager, isn't she!"

**"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"**

"Good one, Harry!" said James. "We would've said something like that too," he added looking at Sirius.

Sirius was looking sadly at his wand.

"Lily, come on," said James. "Take off the charm, and give him his wand." Lily considered it for a while, then sighed and took off the charm.

"YES! Sirius yelled.

"See, he's been able to talk for less than two seconds and already he's shouting!"

"Well, he wouldn't be Sirius if he hadn't!" said James. Lily snorted.

"My wand?" Lily thought about it, and then handed him his wand reluctantly.

**A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.**

"Big deal. He's never pleased, is he?"

"No, I don't think he is."

"Have you ever even seen him smile, Prongs?"

"No, never."

"See?"

"But it could be because he's seen me," said James.

"Good point."

**"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione.**

"I actually feel bad for her."

**"For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite.**

"So what was the difference?"

**Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"**

"Because you didn't tell them too, git!"

**There was a rummage for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor house for your cheek, Potter."**

"What?"

"That's not fair!"

"Lucky it's only one point, though. I'd have thought he'd take at least, what, fifty points?"

"That's a bit much, mate."

"Wouldn't put anything past Snivelly, Prongs."

"Yeah, I guess."

**Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them mixing up a simple potion to cure boils.**

"That didn't go too well for us, did it Prongsie?"

"It most certainly did not, Paddy."

"Yes, it wasn't too good for poor old Wormy."

"Not good for him at all!"

"Boils everywhere."

"Everywhere."

"On his forehead,"

"His nose,"

"His arms,"

"Elbows,"

"Hands,"

"Under his robes."

"Ruined his robes, didn't it?"

"Most certainly did!"

"Even got some on his legs, didn't we?"

"Yup. Completely drenched."

"Completely drenched."

"And it sure as hell didn't _cure_ anything!"

"Yup. Boils everywhere."

"Everywhere!"

"You two are such idiots!"

"Come up with a better insult!"

"Yeah! We've been called idiots way too many times."

"Yeah. It's getting old!" said Sirius.

"Thought you said old was gold," said Lily.

"Only for my jokes, Lily!"

"Whatever."

"Don't "whatever" me! Did you see that? She "whatevered" me!"

"I did see that!"

"Not very nice, was that?"

"No. Not nice at all!"

"Maybe we should jinx her!"

"No. That's my wife you're talking about!"

"Not yet, she isn't. And she "Whatevered" me! Tie her up, I say!"

"No," said Lily firmly.

"Tickle her."

"No!"

"Jelly-legs"

"No!"

"Bat-bogey!"

"No!"

"T-"

"NO!" she roared. Sirius grinned and looked at James. James nodded. Sirius yelled in triumph and tied her up. She look shocked.

"I've been waiting to do this! Rectusempra!" Lily started laughing like mad.

"Not so funny when it's happening to you, is it, Lily?"

"St –st – stop it!" she gasped. They were all laughing.

"No," said Sirius, enjoying having the upper hand for once.

"I'll –I'll kill you!"

"If I ever let you go!"

"Si –SIR – SIRIUS!" she bellowed.

"You know, I think the laughing is getting too loud. Should I Silence her?"

"No!"

"I think I will. Silencio." Lily lay there, laughing silently. James looked troubled. "Alright. You've had your fun, Paddy. Let her go."

"After all she's done to me? No way!"

"Come on. You'd want her to let you go, right? And she did."

"Eventually! After ages!"

"Come on!"

"No!"

"Then I'll free her." He raised his wand. Lily looked thankfully at him, still laughing.

"No!" cried Sirius.

"Yes!" said James, fighting Sirius off of him. And they began to fight. When they were finally done (Sirius had somehow managed to win), Sirius had James' wand and looked triumphant. Then he saw Lily glaring at him. She was untied, she could talk, she had her wand pointed at him, and she looked ready to kill.

"What? how di –" began Sirius, then he saw Remus had a grin on his face.

"I freed her," he said.

"Uh –oh!" said Sirius in a quiet voice.

"You –"

"Lily," he pleaded.

"Are –"

"Lily please!"

"DEAD!"

"Lily! I just did it to show you ARGH!" and he was thrown high into the air.

"Lily!" said James.

"It's alright! He's not getting hurt."

"Look at him! He's terrified!"

Tonks and Remus were rolling on the floor, holding their sides, laughing.

Sirius whimpered in the air. "LET ME DOWN! I FEEL SICK. ARGH!"

"Should've let her go, mate," said James.

"Go on with the book, James."

"You're just going to leave him there?" Lily gave him a look that clearly said "You want the same treatment?"

He gulped and continued.

**He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone, except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.**

"LILY!"

"Come on, let him down. Please, Lily!" begged James. Even Tonks and Remus were starting to worry.

Lily sighed and brought him crashing down to earth.

"Lily!" gasped James.

"Relax," she said with a laugh, and she slowed the screaming Sirius down just before he hit the ground.

He breathed deeply.

"How can you be so scared of heights if you play Quidditch?" she asked.

"Quidditch is fine. You've got a broomstick. And i've never fallen. But that … hanging high up there with nothing keeping you there …"

"Merlin. I never would've guessed."

"What was that last part of the book, James?" Sirius asked, mainly to change the subject. "I missed it because – well, you know."

**He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone, except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.**

"Thanks."

**He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes.**

"Reckon that's worse than what ours did?" asked James.

"Nah. What happened to Wormy was way worse. Hospital wing for a whole week!"

"You know, I reckon he is Alice's son," said James.

"Yeah. He has her talent for potions, doesn't he?"

"Hey!" said Lily.

"What? you can't honestly think she's any good!"

"Well – she – It's just that – oh fine!" they laughed.

**Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.**

"oooh. Comes close to what ours did, doesn't it?"

"Reckon they're about the same level."

"Same level of what?"

"Destructiveness," they both said.

**"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"**

"No idea what we did wrong," said James.

"At least we're better at Potions now," said Sirius.

**Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.**

"Merlin, maybe it's the same thing we did!"

"Could be."

**"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.**

"What'd they do?"

**"You - Potter - why didn't you tell him not to add the quills?**

"Cause he was watching his potion!"

**Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."**

"That's bloody well unfair!"

**This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.** **"Don't push it," he muttered. "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."**

"He probably can"

**As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week –**

"Don't sweat it. We lost closer to fifty."

"And yet you seem proud of it," said Lily.

**why did Snape hate him so much?**

"Cause he hates me."

"But he likes Lily"

"But he looks like me."

"Not his eyes," Remus pointed out.

"Everything else, though. Main looks. From his hair to his … erm … nose!" he finished awkwardly.

"She hasn't said anything about his nose!"

"Yeah, but he's supposed to look just like me!"

"Whatever."

"Don't you whatever me!"

"Didn't this _just _happen like two minutes ago?" said Remus.

"But that was Lily and Sirius," observed Tonks.

"Still."

"Enough, guys!"

**"Cheer up," said Ron.** "**Snape's always taking points off Fred and George.**

"I'll bet he is!"

**Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.**

"Same old Hagrid."

**When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks.**

"Fang."

"Right coward, that dog!" said Sirius.

"Like some other dogs I know," said James, looking at Sirius.

"Oi! I am not a coward!"

"who said it was you?"

"Urgh!"

**Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang - Back."Hagrid's big hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open. "Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."**

"Doesn't really name his pets well, does he?"

"What d'you mean?"

"Well, he's a coward, but he's called _Fang?_ Does that sound right to you?"

"Guess not."

**He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.**

"Hehe, Black"

**There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.**

**"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears.**

The marauders looked at Sirius, who rubbed his ears "does that to me, too."

"Must sense the dog in you," snickered James.

**Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.**

"Not fierce at all."

"**This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes on to a plate.**

"Whatever you do, don't eat those!" warned James.

**"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spend half me life chasin yer twin brothers away from the Forest."**

"Spent the other half chasin' us away," said Sirius proudly.

**The rock cakes almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid about their first lessons.**

"That's nice of them" Lily said happily.

**Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled over his robes.** **Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git."**

"It's the truth"

"The cold hard truth"

**"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang some time.**

"Do it, Do it, Do it Do it!"

"What'll happen? Fangs a right coward."

"Oh, yeah," said Sirius, disappointed.

**D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her - Filch puts her up to it."**

"Most likely."

**Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry no to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.**

"He really hasn't changed much has he?" Sirius muttered.

**"But he seemed to really hate me."**

**"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"**

"Because of Prongs."

"Trust him, Hagrid, he does"

**Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that.**

"I love him; you can tell when he's lying"

**"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron.**

"Bit obvious, wasn't that?" said Lily.

"What was obvious?" asked Sirius. They laughed.

"The change of topic, O great, thick one!"

**"I liked him a lot - great with animals." Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose.**

"Yes, he did"

"Always does."

**While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cosy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:**

_**GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST  
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July,  
widely believed to be the work of dark wizards or witches unknown.****  
Gringotts' goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The  
vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.  
"But we're not telling what was in there, so keep your noses out if  
you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes goblin this  
afternoon.**_

"That's a nice way to tell them to mind their own business, isn't it?"

**Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.**

"So?"

**"Hagrid!" said Harry. "That Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday!**

"His birthdays the 31st July!" Lily said happily

"And?"

"Now we know when our son's birthday is," James said, just as happy

"Didn't they before?"

"Know what? I don't think it did. It just said that his birthday was on a Monday, or something," said Sirius.

"No, Monday was the day before. Tuesday was his Birthday," corrected Remus.

"Doesn't really matter. Not much of a difference!"

**It might've been happening while we were there!"**

**There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes this time.**

"Bless him, he couldn't lie if his life depended on it!"

**He grunted and offered him another rock cake.**

"Don't accept!"

"James! He should be polite!"

**Harry read the story again. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying,**

"It counts!"

**taking out that grubby little package. **

"I guess ..."

**Had that been what the thieves were looking for?**

"Probably"

**As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse,**

"Nice of them."

"I would've thrown them out first chance I got."

"James!"

"Honestly, wouldn't you?"

**Harry thought that none of the lessons so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid.** **Had Hagrid collected that package just in time?** **Where was it now?** **And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?**

"Yes, don't know, and yes!" said Sirius.

"Yeah."

"Well, go on, Prongs!"

"Can't th-"

"What do you mean, can't?"

"I mean that the chapter is finished."

"MY TURN!" roared Sirius before anyone else could call it.

James handed him the book.

"Last chapter, you reckon?" asked James, particularly to Lily.

"This, and maybe one more. Depends how long it takes."

"With these two it'll probably take much longer than it should," said Remus.

"True. So this is probably the last one. Then lunch, okay?"

"'kay Lily flower," said James.

"'kay Lily flower," copied Sirius.

James chucked a few leaves at him. Sirius laughed.

**A/N: Well, there you go! Hope you liked it!**

**Now R-E-V-I-E-W! ****I know who has me on alerts or faves, so I know who should review! No reviews, no next chapter! Just kidding. I would never do that to you all!**

**Until next time,**

**Zeinab**


	9. Gay or Not?

**A/N thanks to Little Miss Elizabeth, Crys Potter, happy-reader007, bellacullen13, Shadow Priesstes, Randomchick16 (love that name, by the way), Cinderella912, ejm12, for adding me to their Faves/ Alerts, and to all my wonderful reviewers!**

**The Midnight Duel**

"Awesome! He's already dueling!" said Sirius.

"We didn't get round to that 'till like second year!"

"Unless you count that time with Snivellus right after Christmas first year," said Sirius.

"Nah. Doesn't count."

"What happened?" asked Tonks.

"Got into a bit of a fight, but we couldn't really do much other than _Expelliarmus,_ and even before we could do that, Slughorn came and stopped us."

"Anyway, my boy's already a Marauder!" he said excitedly.

"I know, isn't it great!" said Sirius.

Lily groaned.

**Harry had never believed he would meet a boy he hated more than Dudley,**

"What?"

**but that was before he met Draco Malfoy**

"Oh, that makes more sense."

**Still, first-year Gryffindors only had potions with the Slytherins, so they didn't have to put up with Malfoy much. **

"That's still one lesson too much"

**Or at least, they didn't until they spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room which made them groan. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday **

"Why're they groaning to that?" asked James, aghast. "flying's brilliant!"

"If you'd listen, there's probably a good reason!"

"There's no good enough reason to be groaning at Quidditch or flying!" James cried. "My son will make the team first thing next year!"

"Not if he's got my genes, he won't!" said Lily.

**- and Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.**

"okay, maybe there _Is _justone good reason to be groaning at flying," said James.

**Typical," said Harry darkly.** **"Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."**

"You won't" James assured "You're a Potter"

"So?"

"We can all fly well"

"But he might get my genes, you never know!"

"Stop saying that, Lily! You're killing him inside!" joked Sirius.

**He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else. **

"Yeah!"

**"You don't know you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk." **

"'course it is!"

**Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot.** **He complained loudly about first-years never getting in the house Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories which always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. **

"Right, yeah, like that happened"

"I wish Malfoy would run into a helicopter" Sirius said dreamily

"How d'you even know what a helicopter is?" Lily asked them.

"I just assumed it was something that flew," shrugged James.

"I took Muggle Studies for Merlin's sake!"

Lily rolled her eyes.

**He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnegan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick.**

"That's hardly any more believable than Malfoy's story!"

"wait … wasn't he a Muggle Born?" asked Sirius.

They shrugged, so he flicked back in the book to check.

"No, his "Mam" was a witch," said Sirius.

**Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hand-glider on Charlie's old broom.**

"Yeaaahhh … suuuure!"

**Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly.** **Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about football.**

"Football is pretty cool," said Sirius.

"How would you know?" asked James.

"I've played it!"

"Really?" they all asked.

"Yeah! Snuck out one summer, played with a couple Muggles. Almost as good as Quidditch. Would be more fun in the air, though."

"How would you play in the air?"

"Dunno. But everything is more fun in the air," he said.

Lily smirked. "Even when you're hanging there, with nothing holding you, miles from the grou –"

"Okay! Stop! Please!" he begged. Lily grinned evilly.

**Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly.**

"see? Ron understands!"

**Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham football team,**

"West Ham? They suck!" snorted Sirius.

"You even know the _teams?_" asked James incredulously.

"Well, I got to talking with the boys after playing, and they told me all their favourite teams, and then two of them got into a fight about whether or not West Ham sucked. I agreed with the one that said West Ham sucked."

"Why?"

"'cause he won."

**trying to make the players move. **

Lily snorted

**Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one.** **Privately, Harry felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.**

"Not like his parents in that aspect, is he?" said James.

"What?"

"Well, much as I hate to admit it, Alice is a damn good Chaser. So's Frank."

"You know, most of the team's sixth years," said Lily thoughtfully.

"Yeah. Me, Frank and Alice are chasers, Sirius is a beater, and Moony's our keeper. Ludo's the only seventh, our seeker, and then there's Chris Peakes, our other beater," said James.

"He's in fourth, right?"

"Mhmm."

"We have a really good team," said Sirius.

"Yeah. Since Wood left we haven't been as good, though. He was the best keeper."

"Oi!"

"Well, sorry Moony, but Wood was better! But you aren't bad!" he finished.

"Now that we've figured that all out, the book?" said Tonks, somewhat irritated as she had little to add to the conversation.

"Don't be mad, Tonks. I'm sure you'll make the team next year, what with Ludo leaving and all."

"Thanks," she said sarcastically, though she was grateful.

"I'm serious!" said Sirius.

"Very funny!"

"No, I mean it. I've played with you on those stupid old toy brooms once or twice. You're not bad!"

"Wow. Thanks, I guess." She wasn't really used to getting any compliments from Sirius.

"Yeah. And when I'm captain next year, I'll be sure to put you in!" grinned James.

"Alright, we don't have that much time. The book, please!" said Lily.

**Hermione Granger was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was.** **This was something you couldn't learn be heart out of a book –**

"HAH!" yelled Sirius triumphantly.

**not that she hadn't tried.**

"of _course_ she did."

**At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd got out of a library book called **_**Quidditch through the Ages. **_

"That's a good book"

"It is"

"Yup"

"But it won't help you if you don't fly already."

"No it won't."

"Nope."

**Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Hermione's lecture was interrupted by the arrival of the post. **

"We would be too"

**Harry hadn't had a single letter since Hagrid's note, something that Malfoy had been quick to notice, of course.**

"Does that even matter?" asked James.

"Says Mr. Two-letters-a-week-from-home!" snorted Sirius.

"Hey! That was only the first two years! And it's not like she doesn't send you letters too, you know!"

"Yeah. Got me there."

"Exactly. Anyway, I wouldn't even want letters from those Dursleys!"

"Yeah!"

"But why don't _you guys _write to him?"

"Don't know, do we?"

"Argh! What a damn useless Godfather!"

"Oi! Watch it! I am not useless!"

"Are too!"

"You know, for all we know I could be dead!" snapped Sirius. He did not seem to like the idea of leaving Harry alone either.

James looked shocked. Sure they had all thought about it … but they never said it out loud.

"Sorry, mate," said James.

"Nah. It's all good!" said Sirius.

**Malfoy's eagle owl was always bringing him packages of sweets from home, which he opened gloatingly at the Slytherin table. **

"Git" Sirius muttered

**A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them all, a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke. **

"Rememberall!" Squealed Lily. "Those are so nice!"

"Yeah. We should give Wormy one!"

"We _did_ give him one!" said Sirius. "Lost it, didn't he?"

"Oh yeah! Bloody ironic, innit?"

"Yeah!"

**"It's a Rememberall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things - this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red - oh..." His face fell, because the Rememberall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "... you've forgotten something..."**

"Exact same thing happen to Wormtail!"

**Neville was trying to remember what he'd forgotten **

They laughed

**when Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Rememberall out of his hand. **

"OI!" James yelled. "Give that back, you git!"

"Calm down, Prongs! It's a book!"

**Harry and Ron jumped to their feet. They were half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school,**

"That's so true!"

**was there in a flash.** **"What's going on?"**

"Good old Minnie. Always there!"

"Yup."

**"Malfoy's got my Rememberall, Professor."**

**Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Rememberall back on the table. "Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.**

"Yeah, right!"

**At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps into the grounds for their first flying lesson.** **It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns towards a smooth lawn **

"Perfect conditions" James commented

**on the opposite side of the grounds to the Forbidden Forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance. **

"it's nice in there."

"Really?" asked Tonks.

"Yeah. Peaceful."

"You call all those animal noises _peaceful?"_ asked Lily.

"Yup."

"You would."

"I do."

"Sirius stop interrupting or I'll take your wand again," said Lily.

He didn't stop talking, so she took his wand away.

"I warned you."

"He never listens."

"I do too!"

"And he never learns!"

"I do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Just read, Padfoot," sighed Remus.

**The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. Harry had heard Fred and George Weasley complain about the school brooms, saying that some of them started to vibrate if you flew too high, or always flew slightly to the left.**

"Haven't fixed that, have they?" said James.

"Apparently not."

**Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk.**

"Interesting description."

**"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."**

"Hurry up!"

**Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. **

"They need new brooms" Lily commented

**"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say, 'Up!'"**

**"UP!" everyone shouted. **

"Harry's will jump up immediately"

"How d'you know that?" asked Lily.

"I just do. He's got the Potter blood!"

"Well," teased Lily, "All the Potters are horrible at Quidditch!"

"Don't ever say that again! I might just faint again!"

"_again?"_ scoffed Tonks. "That first one didn't count!"

"Doesn't matter."

**Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once,**

"See?"

**but it was one of the few that did. Hermione Granger's had simply rolled over on the ground**

"Least it moved."

"Yeah. I remember Lily's stayed completely still!"

"Watch it!"

"you're the one that said you were terrible at Quidditch!"

"So? That doesn't mean that you can too!"

**and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid, thought Harry;**

"Horses can do that?" Siriuss asked, amazed.

"Yeah."

"I reckon brooms can too then."

**there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.**

"Wormtail was exactly like that!"

**Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, **

"Yeah, that would be bad"

**and walked up and down the rows, correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years. **

"HA!" Sirius and James cried together "Take that Malfoy!"

**"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"**

**But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madame Hooch's lips.**

"That can't be good."

"Wormy didn't do that."

**"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle twelve feet - twenty feet.**

"That's _definitely_ not good!"

**Harry saw his scared white face look down at the ground falling away, saw him gasp, slip sideways off the broom and –** **WHAM**

"Merlin, Padfoot! Don't have to yell!"

"I told you last time! I read it how it is, and that's how it is!"

**- a thud and a nasty crack and Neville lay, face down, on the grass in a heap. **

They winced

"Poor Neville!"

"He's a Gryffindor! He'll bear it!" said James confidently, although he didn't really believe it.

**His broomstick was still rising higher and higher and started to drift lazily towards the Forbidden Forest and out of sight.**

"Wild broomstick," shuddered James.

"Those are the worst!"

**Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his. **

**"Broken wrist," Harry heard her mutter. "Come on, boy - it's all right, up you get." She turned to the rest of the class.** **"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'. **

"Didn't Rita say that to us second year, when she left to get her whistle?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't listen to her, did we?" said James.

"Nope. We most certainly did not!"

"You guys raced around the pitch the second she went inside."

"Yeah. And I won!" said Sirius.

"Cause you cheated! You nearly threw me off my broom!"

"So?"

"Well, you've never beaten me after that!"

"So?" He repeated. "Once is enough!"

**Come on, dear."**

**Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.**

**No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.** **"Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins joined in. **

"Prat!"

"Git!"

"Snake!"

"Flobberworm!"

"Flea!"

"Flea?"

"Yeah! They're a right pain, those little buggers," said Sirius.

"You would know!"

"Course I know!"

**"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil. **

"Well said"

**"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought you'd like fat little cry babies, Parvati." **

"Merlin, all Slytherins are evil now!"

"Now? They always have been!"

"Sev –" began Lily, but James shook his head.

"Come on, Lily flower! See how mean he is to our son! I doubt he's not evil inside!"

"Bu –"

"Lily. Seriously!"

**"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."The Rememberall glittered in the sun as he held it up. **

"Give it back Malfoy" James warned

**"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. **

James just grinned.

**Everyone stopped talking to watch. Malfoy smiled nastily. **

"I'll bet anything he becomes a death eater before he finishes Hogwarts!" snarled Sirius.

"Just like his father! Lucius is a death eater if ever I saw one! Wait, how much you wanna bet?"

"Five galleons."

"Done."

"But guys, Voldermort's gone in the future."

"You really believe he isn't coming back?"

"Well … no, I guess not."

"Anyway, you're bound to forget about it by the time we find out!"

"Probably. But it's fun for now."

"Exactly. And that's the point, isn't it? having fun?"

**"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to collect - how about - up a tree?"**

**"Give it here!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt on to his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he could fly well – **

"Damn."

"But I bet Harry flies better!"

"How much!"

"It was a figure of speech, Paddy! I didn't _really_ want to _bet _any money!"

"No faith in your own son. How sad."

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

"Fine!" he raised his wand.

"I was just kidding!" Sirius said quickly. James grinned and lowered his wand.

**hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"** **Harry grabbed his broom.**

**"No!" shouted Hermione Granger. "Madam Hooch told us not to move - you'll get us all into trouble." **

"Be quiet and let him go!" Lily cried, exasperated

"Lily!" said James in shock.

"What? it's not like you're one to judge!"

"She's got you there, Prongs!"

"Yeah, she does," said Remus.

**Harry ignored her.**

"Good."

**Blood was pounding in his ears. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared,** **air rushed through his hair and his robes whipped out behind him - and in a rush of fierce joy he realized he'd found something he could do without being taught -** **this was easy, this was wonderful. **

"YES!! Harry can fly! Harry can fly! Harry can fly!" James shouted.

"Who's Harry?" asked a wheezing voice approaching them.

"Wormy! 'Bout time you came outside!"

"Where were you guys?" he asked, sounding hurt.

"We woke up early, and came outside."

"Why didn't you get me?"

"You know the Marauder rules: No Marauder shall be forcibly woken up on a weekend!"

"Still … wait. What are you guys doing with Evans?"

"Reading."

"_Reading?_"

"Yes."

"A book?"

"Yes. Why are you so shocked?"

"'Cause you never read. Anyway, what book?"

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone."

"Harry Potter? Is he related to you, Prongs?"

"Yeah. He's my son."

"You're _what_?"

"Son. The book's from the future, see?" and he showed him the copyright.

"Wow! Why didn't you tell me?"

"Just found it!"

"Can I read with you guys?"

They looked at Lily, who looked uncomfortable.

"Is she the boss here?" joked Peter.

"Matter of fact, she is," said Sirius. "Lily?"

"Can he read with us?"

"Sure," she said slowly.

"Great!"

"Fill him in, James," ordered Sirius.

After a few minutes of brief explaining, Sirius continued to read.

**He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron. **

"Yeah! Go Harry!"

**He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in mid-air. Malfoy looked stunned. **

"You should be! Never take on a Potter in a flying contest!"

**"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"**

"Does he know how to do that?" asked Peter.

"Doubt it," said Sirius.

"But he's a Potter," James said.

"Yes, we've already established that," said Tonks.

"It's like instinct for Potters."

"What is?"

"Flying, of course!"

"Sure it is," said Lily sarcastically.

"It is! You wait and see!"

"**Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried. **

They snickered

**Harry knew, somehow, what to do.**

"See?"

**He leant forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands and shot towards Malfoy like a javelin.**

"Like a what?" asked Peter.

"A pointy thing Muggles throw to see how far they go."

"What's the point in that?"

"It's like a competition; who can throw it the farthest and stuff."

"Oh."

**Malfoy only just got out of the way in time;**

"Damn."

**Harry made a sharp about turn and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping. **

"Yeah! You show that slime ball what you're made of!"

**"No Crabbe and Goyle to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.** **The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy. **

"Ah yes, can't do anything without your bodyguards!"

**"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back towards the ground.**

"Coward!"

**Harry saw, as though in slow motion, the ball rise up in the air and then start to fall. He leant forward and pointed his broom handle down - next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, **

"Harry! Be careful!" Lily cried

**racing the ball - wind whistled in his ears, mingling with the screams of people watching - he stretched out his hand - a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently on to the grass with the Rememberall clutched safely in his fist. **

"Damn" James breathed "He's good"

"Don't know if even Prongs could've pulled that off," said Sirius. James didn't look offended.

"Seeker" Remus said happily.

James beamed.

"Not necessarily!"

"What else? He made such a great catch, he has to be a seeker!"

**"HARRY POTTER!" **

They groaned

**His heart sank faster than he'd just dived. Professor McGonagall was running towards them. He got to his feet trembling. **

"Probably detention" Peter mumbled.

"Nothing worse than that, for sure!"

"Yeah, we've done way worse and we're still here!"

**"Never - in all my time at Hogwarts -" Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock,**

"That's a first!"

"She always has something to say to us!"

**and her glasses flashed furiously,** **"- how dare you - might have broken your neck -"**

"But he didn't"

**"It wasn't his fault, Professor -" **

"Exactly"

**"Be quiet, Miss Patil -" **

"No don't"

**"But Malfoy -" **

"Is a git"

**"That's enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now." **

"Damn"

**Harry caught sight of Malfoy, **

"Can't have been a pretty sight."

**Crabbe and Goyle's **

"That's even worse"

**triumphant faces **

"Gits"

"Merlin, Sirius! Stop interrupting your own reading!"

"Prongs is doing it too!"

"Just the one!"

"Still!"

"Enough!"

"But-"

"No"

"He's-"

"No"

"I jus-"

"No!"

"But –"

"Do you _want_ me to hex you?"

"No."

"Then stop!"

"I was just –"

"Sirius!"

"Fine!"

**as he left,** **walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode towards the castle. He was going to be expelled, he just knew it.**

"No you won't"

"What did I say?"

**He wanted to say something to defend himself, but there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. Professor McGonagall was sweeping along without even looking at him; he had to jog to keep up. Now he'd done it. He hadn't even lasted two weeks.**

"More than us. We got detentions first day!"

**He'd be packing his bags in ten minutes. What would the Dursleys say when he turned up on the doorstep? **

"Probably something along the lines of, 'bugger he's back'"

**Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside and still Professor McGonagall didn't say a word to him. She wrenched open doors and marched along corridors with Harry trotting miserably behind her. Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore.**

"Nah."

**He thought of Hagrid, expelled but allowed to stay on as gamekeeper. Perhaps he could be Hagrid's assistant.**

"Actually …" said Sirius

"No!" said Lily

**His stomach twisted as he imagined it, watching Ron and the others become wizards while he stumped the grounds, carrying Hagrid's bag. **

"That would be depressing"

**Professor McGonagall stopped outside a classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside. "Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?" **

"Wood?"

"Wood!"

"Must be Roger's son!"

"Must be the new captain!"

"Yes! Harry's going to get on the team!"

"But he's a first year! That hasn't happened in ages!"

"Then they'll start training him now, for next year!"

"Excellent!"

"Brilliant!"

"Amaz –"

"Shut up!"

**Wood? thought Harry, bewildered; was Wood a cane she was going to use on him? **

"Don't be stupid!" Peter scoffed.

"Don't be mean!" Lily scolded him. Peter flushed.

**But Wood turned out to be a person, a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick's class looking confused. **

"I bet he's the captain!"

"Reckon he's a keeper like his father?"

"Dunno. Maybe."

**"Follow me, you two," said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry. "In here."**

**Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom which was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard. **

"I wonder what he was writing" Sirius grinned

"Probably something we taught him," James replied, with a grin matching Sirius'.

"Didn't I tell you guys to stop talking?"

"Yes."

"So why are you?"

"Never said we'd listen, did we?"

"Nope. We most certainly did not!"

"Nope!"

"Argh! Don't make me throw you in the air again!"

Sirius shut up immediately.

"Good dog," said Lily.

**"Out, Peeves!" she barked.** **Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind him and turned to face the two boys.**

**"Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood - I've found you a Seeker." **

"YES!! MY SON IS THE YOUNGEST SEEKER IN A CENTURY!!"

"Bet he's even better than Ludo!"

"Definitely!"

"Probably flies better than you, Prongs!"

"Oi, don't push it!"

"What?"

"Don't!"

"I thought you'd be happy for him!" teased Sirius.

"Watch it, dog!"

"Shut up, deer!"

"Stag!"

"Deer!"

"Puppy!"

"Horse!"

"Horse?"

"Yeah, horse!"

"Cat!"

"HEY! I AM NOT A CAT!"

"I'm not a deer or a horse either, am I?"

And they were off, fighting again.

"Guys! When will you learn?" sighed Lily.

"Probably never," said Remus. "No need, Lily," he said as she lifted her wand. "Let me deal with this." And he joined the two of them, and within a few seconds he was holding both of them by the scruffs of their necks.

"I hate that you are a -" began Sirius, but cut off, looking at Tonks.

"A what? A _what?" _she asked.

"Nothing," grumbled Sirius. "But if we weren't outside, I would turn into a dog and kill you, Moony!"

"hah! Like you could!"

"I'm stronger as a dog!"

"Not strong enough, Paddy," said James.

"Look who's talking! The deer!"

"It's a STAG!" bellowed James.

"No difference!"

"YES! THERE! IS!"

"Nope, not really." Remus looked at his two friends and pulled their squirming bodies further apart.

"Enough, guys," he said.

"FINE!" they both replied. Remus put them down.

**Wood's expression changed from puzzlement to delight.**

"I'll bet it did!"

**"Are you serious, Professor?" **

"No that's me"

"Shut up!"

**"Absolutely," said Professor McGonagall crisply. "The boy's a natural. I've never seen anything like it.** **Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?"**

"Yup!" James was positively delighted, and he seemed to have already forgotten the little fight he had just had.

**Harry nodded silently. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he didn't seem to be being expelled,**

"No, not expelled!"

**and some of the feeling started coming back to his legs.**

**"He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive," Professor McGonagall told Wood.** **"Didn't even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn't have done it." **

"Ron's brother?"

"Must be."

"He was captain, wasn't he?"

"Yeah. Ron said something about that."

**Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once. **

"That's...disturbing?"

**"Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?" he asked excitedly.**

**"Wood's the captain of the Gryffindor team," Professor McGonagall explained.**

"Knew it!"

**"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light - speedy - we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor - a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say." **

"Nimbus 2000!"

"Awesome!"

"That's the one in the window, yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"AWESOME!" they both cried.

"My son will be the first first year to have a broom and be on a team since, like, God knows when!"

"you said so yourself, Prongs, a century!"

"Oh, yeah .. right. Whatever. He's the bloody youngest _and_ he's the seeker!"

"**I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin,**

"Oh, don't say that, Minnie!"

**I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..."**

"Who wants to look in his face anyway?"

"Exactly, Paddy!"

**Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at Harry.**

**"I want to hear you're training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you." Then she suddenly smiled. **

"That's rare"

**"Your father would have been proud," she said.**

"I am!"

"**He was an excellent Quidditch player himself."**

"Yes he was –is!" corrected Sirius.

**"You're joking."**

"No! I am a brilliant player!"

"Love your modesty, Prongs," joked Remus.

"Thanks, Moony."

**It was dinner time. Harry had just finished telling Ron what had happened when he'd left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Ron had a piece of steak-and-kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.** **"Seeker?" he said. "But first-years never - you must be the youngest house player in about -" **

"A century"

**"-a century," said Harry, shovelling pie in his mouth.** **He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me." Ron was so amazed, so impressed; he just sat and gaped at Harry. "I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret." **

"Yeah, like that'll last long in Hogwarts" Lily snorted

**Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry and hurried over.**

**"Well done," said George in a low voice.** **"Wood told us.** **We're on the team too - Beaters." **

"Yeah. Those two seemed like beater material," said Sirius.

"Yeah. They're destructive even without the bat, so just _imagine _what they can do with one!"

They both grinned.

"Just like us!"

**"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch Cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."**

"wow. And Wood hasn't even seen him play yet!"

**"Anyway, we've got to go; Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passage way out of the school."**

"Bet we already know it!" said Sirius.

**"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week.**

"First week, good for them!"

"We got it second day, though, didn't we?"

"Yup."

"How?"

"Simple. We're the Marauders!"

"I knew I liked those two guys!" said Sirius.

"Okay … we didn't need to know that!" said James.

"OI! You know what I meant!"

"Honestly … I'm not too sure. All I know is that you are waay too close to me," said James, backing away from Sirius.

"POTTER!" he roared.

"What?"

"Don't!"

"Don't what?"

"Call me that!"

"Call you what? Gay?"

"Yes!"

"So you're admitting it! Good for you! How does it feel?"

"POTTER!"

"Don't tell me you love me, Sirius. I'm sorry, but I'm already going out with someone. Plus I'm straight!"

"JAMES! STOP CALLING ME GAY!"

People around the grounds turned to look at Sirius.

They could vaguely hear whispers.

"He's Gay?"

"Ew! I kissed a gay guy!"

"But he's been out with so many girls?"

"Sirius Black Is _Gay?"_

"How do you like these whispers, then?" asked James. Sirius growled. The other four couldn't stop laughing.

"Take it back!"

"How can I? All these people know now! They know you've come out of the closet!"

"tell everyone, then! Shout it out!"

"Shout what out?"

"I am not gay."

"Fine. I AM NOT GAY!"

"Argh! Sirius Black is not gay!"

"SIRIUS BLACK IS not GAY!" he whispered the word "not"

"You git!"

"YOU GIT!"

"Stop it, James," said Lily. She was rolling on the ground laughing. "I can't stop laughing. It's starting to hurt!"

James joined in the laughing.

"I'll get you back for this!" Sirius growled.

"You'll never be able to come up with a masterpiece as great as this!"

"I will. Just you wait. I'll come up with something!"

"In the mean time, let's read, shall we?" said Remus, finally pulling himself together.

**Fred and George hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up:** **Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle**

"Ew!"

"Glad to see you have good taste, Sirius."

"Shut up!"

James laughed but didn't say anything else.

**"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?" **

"He's not, you mangled little flobberworm!" growled James.

**"You're a lot braver now you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly.**

"Good one, Harry," said Sirius.

"Don't tell me you like my son, Paddy! He's not even _born _yet!"

"James, enough," Lily said, laughing.

**There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle,**

"True."

**but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.**

"ooh, scary!"

**"I'd take you on any time on my own," said Malfoy.** **"Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel.**

"Yes!"

**Wands only - no contact.**

"Chicken!"

**What's the matter? Never heard of a wizard's duel before, I suppose?" **

"No he hasn't. you should know that, you've learned about him for the past ten years!"

"Doubt the Malfoys told their son about how their "Dark Lord" was defeated," said Sirius.

**"Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling round.** **"I'm his second, who's yours?" **

"You'd be my second, right Paddy?" James asked, looking at Sirius.

"Sure."

"Actually, I think Remus would be better. I think gay guys are supposed to be weak."

"I am not weak!" he growled. They started to laugh. "I mean I'm not gay!" he said, flushing.

To save himself more embarrassment, he continued to read.

**Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.**

"They're both big, ugly and stupid."

**"Crabbe," **

"Ah, the biggest, ugliest and stupidest!"

**he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room, that's always unlocked."**

**When Malfoy had gone, Ron and Harry looked at each other. "What is a wizard's duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"**

**"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. Catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly, "but people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other.**

They snorted.

**Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway." **

"He did"

**"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?" **

"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," said Sirius wisely.

"Speaking from experience, are we?" said Tonks.

"'Course!"

"**Throw it away and punch him on the nose," suggested Ron.**

Sirius blinked.

"You know, if he was alive right now, I think he'd be Paddy's soul mate!" snickered James.

"Enough with the gay jokes!"

"But they're fun, Paddy!"

"He's right, Padfoot," said Remus.

"Hilarious," agreed Peter.

"Side-splitting," said Tonks

"humorous," said James,

"comical," Remus added.

"entertaining," said Tonks.

"ENOUGH!" roared Sirius. They all laughed and stopped.

**"Excuse me." **

"I bet it's Granger"

**They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger. **

"Ha! I was right!"

"For once"

**"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron. **

"No, it's Hogwarts"

**Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry. "I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying -" **

"Bet she could" Sirius muttered

**"Bet you could," Ron muttered.**

"Meant for each other, aren't they?" snickered James.

Lily threw a protective charm between them before Sirius could do anything.

"Just read," she sighed. He glared at James then continued. Lily removed the protective shield.

**"- and you mustn't go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be.** **It's really selfish of you." **

"Ack! She is so annoying!"

"She's right, you know!" said Lily.

"So? Wouldn't stop us, would it?" said Sirius.

"Nope," the other three boys replied.

**"And it's really none of your business," said Harry.**

"Good point!"

**"Goodbye," said Ron.**

**All the same, it wasn't what you'd call the perfect end to the day, Harry thought, as he lay awake much later listening to Dean and Seamus falling asleep (Neville wasn't back from the hospital wing). **

"But broken bones get fixed in like two minute!" Sirius said.

"Less than that!" James corrected him.

"Maybe she wanted to keep him a while longer."

"She does that some times."

"Maybe he just got lost."

"Or maybe he's forgotten the password and is locked out of the common room," suggested Peter.

"Just 'cause that happened to _you , _Pete," said Sirius. They all laughed as Peter flushed.

**Ron had spent all evening giving him advice such as "If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them."**

"Helpful, innit?"

**There was a very good chance they were going to get caught by Filch or Mrs. Norris, and Harry felt he was pushing his luck, breaking another school rule today.**

"No worries! We always do that!"

**On the other hand, Malfoy's sneering face kept looming up out of the darkness - this was his big chance to beat Malfoy, face to face. He couldn't miss it.**

"Exactly!"

**"Half past eleven," Ron muttered at last. "We'd better go."**

"Know what … four – no, _five_ Galleons says Malfoy won't show up. He'll probably try to get them caught!" said James.

Unable to resist, Sirius agreed. Remus shook his head at Sirius' stupidity.

**They pulled on their dressing-gowns, picked up their wands and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into shadows. They had almost reached the portrait hole when a voice spoke from the chair nearest them:**

"Another two Galleons says it's Granger," said James quickly.

"James … I think you've got a problem," said Remus. James shrugged. "What d'you say, Paddy?"

"One bet at a time, mate!"

"Fine! Anyone else? Wormtail?"

"Fine," sighed Peter.

**"I can't believe you're going to do this, Harry."** **A lamp flickered on. It was Hermione Granger,**

"Yessss!"

Peter grumbled and handed over the money.

"You're next, Paddy!"

**wearing a pink dressing-gown and a frown.**

**"You!" said Ron furiously. "Go back to bed!" **

"Exactly!" Sirius said "Keep out of this"

**"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped. "Percy - he's a Prefect, he'd put a stop to this."**

"Little nark!"

**Harry couldn't believe anyone could be so interfering.**

"Neither can we!"

**"Come on," he said to Ron.** **He pushed the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole.** **Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily.**

They groaned.

**She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.**

"An angry goose would hiss?" asked Peter, thoroughly confused.

"This Rowling woman sure has interesting descriptions, doesn't she?" said Sirius.

"that's one way to put it."

**"Don't you care about Gryffindor, do you only care about yourselves, I don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup and you'll lose all the points I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."**

"Merlin, what a pain she is!" said Lily.

**"Go away."**

**"All right, but I warned you, you must remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so -"**

**But what they were, they didn't find out.**

"Thank Merlin for that!"

**Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting.**

**The Fat Lady had gone on a night-time visit**

"Who d'you reckon she went to visit?" asked Sirius.

"Does it even matter?"

"Not. Just thought it would be interesting."

"Probably Violet," said James.

"Yeah."

**and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor tower. **

"HA!" Sirius and James cried

**"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly. **

"That's your problem," Sirius snorted.

"No! now she'll want to go with them!" groaned James.

"Poor Harry and Ron," said Peter.

**"That's your problem," said Ron.**

Sirius groaned.

"Perfect match!"

"Shut it!"

**"We've got to go, we're going to be late." **

**They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.** **"I'm coming with you," she said.**

"Noooo!"

**"You are not."**

**"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you and you can back me up." **

"Oh yeah," said Sirius sarcastically. "hey, Filch, we were off to duel Malfoy, but Granger tried to stop us, then she got locked so she had to come with us. So will you please let her off and punish just us?"

They laughed.

**"You've got some nerve -" said Ron loudly.**

**"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something." **

"Them arguing?" Remus suggested

**It was a sort of snuffling.** **"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.**

"Cats don't snuffle, do they?" asked Peter.

"Doubt it."

**It wasn't Mrs. Norris.** **It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked awake as they crept nearer.** **"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours. I couldn't remember the new password to get into bed."**

"Knew it," muttered Peter.

"Yeah. Guess Pete couldn't be the only one."

**"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout'**

"Urgh!"

**but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."**

**"How's your arm?" said Harry.**

**"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute." **

"See?" James said "She's good"

**"Good - well, look, Neville, we've got to be somewhere, we'll see you later -"**

"Just going to leave him there?"

**"Don't leave me" said Neville, scrambling to his feet. "I don't want to stay here alone, The Bloody Baron's been past twice already."**

They shuddered.

"Poor Neville."

**Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.** **"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learnt that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about and used it on you."**

"Curse of the _what?"_ James said.

"Bogies. Reckon it's a real spell?" asked Lily curiously.

"Doubt it."

"Could be the bat-bogey hex, though."

"Yeah."

**Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies,**

They snickered.

**but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.**

**They flitted along the corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed towards the trophy room.** **Malfoy and Crabbe weren't there yet.**

"Not gonna come!" said James in a sing-song voice.

**The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.**

**"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered. **

"Or maybe he was never going to come in the first place"

**Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak - and it wasn't Malfoy.**

"Git!" yelled Sirius.

"I _told _you!"

**"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner." **

"Filch" they groaned

**It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. **

"I hate that cat!" Lily said.

"I hate all cats!" said Sirius.

"Give me my money!" yelled James excitedly. Sirius groaned and was about to part with his Galleons, but changed his mind.

"Hey!"

"Wait a second."

"What?"

Sirius took out several sickles and knuts. After counting them up, he gave James a bunch of them and said, "That's exactly five Galleons."

"OI! I know you have this in Galleons!"

"So? I never said I'd _give_ it in Galleons. I don't see why you're complaining!"

"I should've done that too!" said Peter. They all laughed at the angry look on James' face.

**Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently towards the door away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.**

"Close one!" said Peter.

"No duh, genius!"

**"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."**

**"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour.** **They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run -he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour. **

"Crap!" cried Sirius. "RUN!"

"I think they realize, Padfoot," said Peter.

**The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.**

"Bet we were louder when we knocked down the suits of armour."

"Yeah, but there's a difference between that and this."

"What?"

"We did that on purpose," said Peter.

"Oh yeah. Two a.m. wasn't it?"

"Yeah," said Remus.

"Classic," said Sirius.

"**RUN!" Harry yelled and the four of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following -they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead without any idea where they were or where they were going.**

"That's never good," said Remus.

"Much more fun than knowing, though," said Sirius.

"Yeah."

**They ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room. **

"Good" Lily said

**"I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead.**

**Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.**

**"I - told - you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest. "I - told - you."**

**"We've got to get back to Gryffindor Tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible." **

"Just as smart as Peter, he is," said Sirius.

"Thanks," said Peter happily. They started laughing.

"what?" asked Peter.

"Nothing, nothing!"

"you know, Siri, I'm surprised that you insulted Ron. He is your soul mate, after all."

"PRONGS!" he roared, jumping on top of James.

James squealed and ducked out of the way.

"Don't try anything with me," warned James. "I told you I'm straight!"

"POTTER!"

"BLACK!"

Remus collected some money from Peter and Tonks.

"Knew we couldn't last the chapter without at least one more gay comment," he said happily.

Lily raised her wand and tied James up.

"Why aren't you tying Sirius up too?" asked James.

"Well, firstly, you provoked him, so it's your fault –"

"HAH!"

"And secondly, he'd just get out of them, anyway. Go on, Sirius."

James growled.

**"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry.**

"noooooo … does she think they hadn't figured that out yet?"

**"You realize that, don't you?** **He was never going to meet you - Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."**

"Hate that she's right!"

"But we knew it first! At least I did," said James.

"Don't make me Silence you," said Sirius.

"You don't even have a wand!" cried James.

"Then Lily will Silence you!"

"She will?"

"I will?"

"Yes!"

"She won't"

"I won't?"

"Will you?"

"I might! You're being kind of annoying!"

"Please don't!"

**Harry thought she was probably right, but he wasn't going to tell her that.**

"Stupid boys and their pride" Lily muttered

**"Let's go."**

**It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them. It was Peeves. **

"Yeah! Go peeves!" Sirius cried.

"I'm getting sick of the constant interruptions. Remus, if I take care of Sirius, would you continue the reading?" Lily asked sweetly.

"Wait what?"

"Sure," replied Remus.

"Excellent.

"What d'you mean _take care?_ What are you going to do to me?"

"I think you know, she said evilly.

"no! Please, for Merlin's sake NO!"

"Go Lily!" said Tonks and James.

Peter watched in amusement. He hadn't seen her do it before.

"Up we go, Paddy," said James happily.

"AAHHH! Help!" cried Sirius from high in the air. "Marauders are supposed to help each other out!" he yelled. Everyone on the grounds was staring at him.

"Well, I choose to side with Lily," said James.

"We're staying out of it," said Peter and Remus. Tonks laughed.

"Wha - what happened to M - Marauders stick to - together?"

"It was chased away by my common sense is what happened!" said James.

"Where's its bloody Gry - Gryffindor courage!"

"That ran away too!"

"GIT!" he called from way up there.

"Shall I read?" asked Remus.

"YOU ARE BY FAR THE WORST FRIENDS EVER!"

"We know!" James called back.

"Go ahead, Remus," said Lily.

**He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.**

**"Shut up, Peeves - please - you'll get us thrown out." **

"Oh no"

**Peeves cackled. **

"Not good" James said

"ARGH! LET ME DOWN!"

"Suit yourself," said Lily, still grinning evilly.

"NO! WAIT! I didn't mean –AAAHHH!"

They began laughing like mad. Lily kept an eye on him, making sure to stop him split seconds before he made contact. She left him floating about a foot above the ground.

"Put me down then!" he roared.

"Will you shut up?"

"Can I read?"

"fine, but no interrupting, okay?"

"Okay!" She let him fall gruffly to the ground.

"Thanks, he said sourly, snatching the book from Remus.

**He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.**

"Already read that," said James.

"Well, I bloody well wasn't here, was I?"

**"Shut up, Peeves - please - you'll get us thrown out." **

**Peeves cackled. **

**"Wandering around at midnight, ickle firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."**

"Not good," said Sirius. Then he looked up quickly at Lily. She smiled at him. He shuddered.

**"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please." **

"Pleading isn't going to help"

**"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a saintly voice, but his eyes glittering wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know." **

James snorted "Saintly, yeah right"

**"Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves – **

"You should never, ever do that to Peeves!"

**This was a big mistake. **

**"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed. "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!" **

"Bloody hell!" Sirius yelled,

"Just their bloody luck!" groaned Lily.

"_Alohomora _it!" said James.

"They wouldn't have learnt that yet, James," said Lily worriedly.

**"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door. "We're done for! This is the end!"**

"Dramatic lot of firsties, aren't they?"

**They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could towards Peeves's shouts.**

**"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled.**

"Please tell me she knows _Alohomora_!" said James.

"I didn't think we could ever have _wanted _he to know something!" said Sirius.

"Well, she _would _know it!"

**She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock and whispered, "**_**Alohomora**_**!"**

"Damn, she's good for a firstie!"

"Stop saying that," said Tonks angrily.

**The lock clicked and the door swung open - they piled through it, shut it quickly and pressed their ears against it, listening.**

**"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. **

"They're safe!" sighed James.

"But Filch is there!" said Tonks.

"Peeves would never tell Filch. He hates him more than any of us!"

**"Quick, tell me."**

**"Say 'please'." **

"Ah, I love Peeves." Sirius grinned

"Thought you were in love with those two twins!" said James. "You do move quickly, don't you?"

"Shut up, Prongs!"

"And I never thought you would love a poltergeist!"

"So that's why he's always with Peeves!" exclaimed Tonks.

"Shut it, guys!"

"shut what?"

"Your mouth!"

"Now why would we do that, Tonks?"

"No idea, Jamesie."

"Don't call me that."

"Why?"

"Cause then I'll call you Nymphedora!"

"I don't see why you don't like that name, Dora," said Sirius.

"Would _you?"_

"Yes, I wouldn't mind being called Nymphedora!"

"Fine, when you have a sex change you can become Nymphedora," said Lily. "Now back to the –"

"People can change their sex?" asked James incredulously.

"Yeah. Muggles have surgery done."

"Go for it, Paddy!"

"Enough! You are really starting to piss me off!"

"oooo, we're so scared, right James?"

"Yeah, Tonks. Look! We're shivering."

"Uh, guys," said Peter timidly. "The book?" He was ignored.

"Don't make me do something I'll regret!"

"Like what?"

"Throw me in the air? We're not the ones scared of heights, Paddy!"

"There are other things I can do to you, Tonks. And you, Prongs," he said quietly.

They frowned.

"Don't you remember? Last Christmas when the four of us stayed at school?"

"Wha – OH Merlin no!"

"Glad you've remembered!" Remus and Peter grinned at each other.

"What?" asked Lily eagerly.

"Prongs is –"

"DON'T!"

"_ticklish!"_

"No!" said Lily

"Yes!"

"NO!" moaned James. Lily flicked her wand to try it out. James began laughing and squirming.

"St – sto –STOP IT!" he said between laughs.

"This is brilliant!" said Tonks.

"What about you? You're just as ticklish!"

"Am not!" she said, but he didn't buy it.

"Is she?" asked Remus. Sirius nodded. "Do it, Moony! I don't have my wand!"

Remus considered it, then said, "What the hell! Why not?"

"NO!" cried Tonks. She began laughing and squirming just like James.

"Getting a little loud, don't you think?" said Sirius over the laughter.

"Yes, I agree!" yelled Remus. More flicks of wands, and the two of them were silenced. James glared at Remus and Sirius. Tonks could hardly breathe.

"Reckon they've had enough?" asked Remus after a while.

"Let Tonks go, but leave Prongs. He's pissed me off. He deserves to stay like that for a while longer."

Remus nodded. Within seconds Tonks was collapsed on the ground, breathing hard, but James was still being tickled.

"You git!" said Tonks when she caught her breath.

Sirius grinned.

James looked pleadingly at Lily. Lily took of the charms. He too collapsed.

Then both Tonks and James charged at Sirius.

"Hey!"

"Well, what did you expect?" asked Lily.

"Why only me?" cried Sirius from under James as Tonks punched him.

"'cause you told them to!"

"But they didn't have to listen!"

"Good point," said James, and he got off of Sirius and ran towards Remus. He was about to jump, but then he realized that Moony, being a werewolf, was much stronger than he was.

Sirius had just beaten Tonks, when James said, "You know, Moony is stronger than me, so I'll just fight you for now!" and he attacked Sirius again.

"Lily! Stop them!"

"No. I'm having fun!"

"But we're – ARGH! – we're running out of time!"

Lily sighed. "'fraid he's right, James.

"Just – give –me –one –more – minute!" said James, punctuating each word with a punch.

"No, James!" he sighed and got off. "You got lucky, mate!"

Sirius thanked Lily, moved further away from James and Tonks, and continued to read.

**"Don't mess me about, Peeves, now where did they go?"**

**"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying sing-song voice.**

**"All right - please."**

**"NOTHING!" Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! **

"Taught him that too, didn't we?"

James grumbled something.

**Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage.**

**"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be OK - get off, Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's dressing-gown for the last minute. "What?"**

**Harry turned around - and saw, quite clearly, what. For a moment, he was sure he'd walked into a nightmare -this was too much, on top of everything that had happened so far. **

"Oh, Merlin! What could be worse than Filch?" gasped James.

**They weren't in a room, as he had supposed. They were in a corridor.** **The forbidden corridor on the third floor.**

"Great! We get to see what's there now!"

**And now they knew why it was forbidden.**

"Oh Merlin," whimpered Tonks. "What is it?"

**They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog which filled the whole space between the ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs**

"That." Said James, almost comically.

"Reckon that _is _worse than Filch, don't you," joked Sirius casually.

"Right, back away slowly," said Remus.

"Forget that, RUN!" roared Sirius.

"Fast!" added James.

"NOW!" finished Lily.

**It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise,**

"That isn't going to last."

**but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.**

"THEY'RE GONNA BE RIPPED TO SHREDS BY THAT THING!" screamed James.

"Harry's not going to die, James," said Lily, though she was also anxious.

"Oh yeah? How do you know so much, been taking extra divination classes?"

"No." Lily rolled her eyes.

"Then how?" He demanded.

"There's half the book to go yet."

Sirius laughed and James cast his eyes to the floor "I knew that" He mumbled.

"Sure, Prongs."

**Harry groped for the doorknob - **

'GET OUT!" they all yelled a different times.

"RUN!"

"MOVE IT!"

"GET OUT OF THERE!"

**between Filch and death, he'd take Filch.**

"Good choice."

**They fell backwards - Harry slammed the door shut, and they ran, they almost flew back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared - all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. **

"Another good idea."

"Even we wouldn't want to be near that thing!" said James.

**They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.**

**"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their dressing-gowns hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty** **faces. **

"Why does she bother asking?" James asked "Nobody ever tells her"

**"Never mind that - pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling into armchairs.** **It was a while before any of them said anything.** **Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.**

"Poor thing" Lily cooed "He must be terrified"

"You know, I think they all are!" said Sirius sardonically.

**"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."**

James snorted.

**Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again.**

"Crap."

**"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"**

"His _feet?_" asked Sirius incredulously. "I think they might have been just a tad preoccupied with its heads!"

**"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."**

**"No, not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor. It's obviously guarding something."**

"Ah."

"I reckon she's the only person in the world who would've noticed that when they were facing a giant three-headed dog," said James.

**She stood up, glaring at them. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed - or worse, expelled.** **Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed." **

"She has got to sort out her priorities" Sirius snorted

**Ron stared after her, his mouth open.** **"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?" **

"He has a point"

**But Hermione had given Harry something else to think about as he climbed back into bed.** **The dog was guarding something... What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide - except perhaps Hogwarts.** **It looked as **

**though Harry had found out where the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was. **

"The stone!" Sirius yelled

"Congratulations Sirius figure that out for yourself?" chuckled James.

"Watch it, deer!"

"Watch who you're calling a deer, you gay little puppy!"

"PRONGS!" thundered Sirius.

"We don't have time for this, guys!" said Lily angrily. "Just stop it for now!"

"But –"

"No Sirius! I've had enough."

"But the –"

"Sirius!"

"But the chap –"

"What?"

"If you'd just let him speak," said James. She glared at him.

"The chapter's finished!"

"Oh. Well, then, let's go and eat lunch then." They all got up and walked inside.

"I'm reading next!" called Tonks as they walked in.

"No, Peter hasn't had a go yet. He'll be first to read when we finish lunch."

"Fine!" moaned Tonks. "But I'm going after him!"

"Fine."

"Yay!"

**A/N:50 pages on word! WOW! Now R-E-V-I-E-W!**

**Until next time,**

**Zeinab**


	10. Just an Author's Note, Sorry!

**A/N: Sorry to disappoint you all, but this whole "chapter" is just an author's note. Don't worry, though, the next chapter has been started and will be up soon enough. Before I put the next one up, I want to ask you all something, as it is you who will read the story and be enjoying it.**

**Do you think I should add Frank and/or Alice Longbottom? Or anyone else, really. Let me know in your reviews! If there are quite a few who want me to add anyone, I will! And again, sorry if anyone is really disappointed, but I wanted to ask you guys before adding anyone else (I know lots of people don't like Wormtail being there, but I wanted him to be here when they read PoA, and I thought I should add him earlier on) so please let me know!**

**Until next time, **

**Zeinab**


	11. Join the Club!

**A/N: It's the chapter everyone (mainly me!) has been waiting for … HALLOWEEN! **

**Thanks to Miss Raella Morgan, Spongyllama, magical.me.myself.and.I, chrono 9999, Queen Islanzadi, Marlicat, pottarocks, blueyblonde, weasleylover35, Silver the Shiny, renen0034, stephluvzmcr, Qwiksilva, bellacullen13, NorahJones, CSIRippedstorm and WWMTgirl for adding me to their Alerts/Faves, and to all my wonderful Reviewers!!**

**ENJOY!**

They all sat together at lunch. Normally, Lily refused to sit anywhere near the Marauders, and Tonks usually sat with other first years, but this time, it was different. Lily sat beside James. James grinned as Sirius sat on his other side, and Remus sat opposite them on the other side. Tonks sat beside him, and Peter was on his other side.

"You reckon He'll become captain in his fifth or sixth year?" asked James quietly. The thing about the Great Hall was that it was easy to be overheard.

"Definitely!" said Sirius, equally quietly, which was definitely a first.

Even Lily couldn't help but talk about the book, even though she had said that they shouldn't.

"I hope he doesn't become too much like James," she said to Remus. He laughed and said, "I completely agree! I wouldn't want him to be like James if he were my son either!"

Lily grinned.

"What did you say?" asked James, hurt.

"Nothing!" they both said. James frowned.

"NO WAY!" came a girl's loud voice from somewhere nearby.

They all turned their heads to see who had shouted. A girl and a boy in their year appeared at their sides.

"Alice?" said Lily. "What happened?"

"You!"

"Me?"

"You're sitting with … with them," said Alice, completely shocked. Frank grinned.

Lily laughed. "Yes I am."

"_Why?"_

"'cause we're cool, Prewett!" said Sirius.

"Yeah, they're cool," said Frank.

"Not the way I see it," Alice snorted.

Sirius shrugged. "I tried."

"Shut up, Padfoot. She has an excellent reason for it, Alice."

"What is that?" asked Frank.

"'fraid I can't tell you that, mate."

"And why not?" asked Alice

"Alas, that is also a question that I can't answer."

"Shut up, Potter! Lily, what's going on? How come you're with …_ them_?"

"Umm … because I've decided to give James a shot. We're going to Hogsmeade together next week."

"WHAT" Alice yelled, just as James asked, "We are?"

"You're going together and he doesn't even know?" scoffed Frank.

"Shut it, mate!" James muttered so only Frank would hear.

"We are, and he does, he's just forgotten. Right!"

"Um, yeah. Forgot." He grinned.

"I'm not stupid, you know!" said Alice.

"Could've fooled me," muttered Sirius.

"I heard that! Now what's going on!"

"What did you mean, I knew it?" asked Lily.

"Never mind!" she said quickly.

"You tell me, and I'll tell you!"

"What?" yelled Sirius.

"Please be quiet, Mr. Black, Ms. Prewett!" said McGonagall, who had been giving them the evil eye ever since Alice had shouted, but they hadn't noticed. She had had to walk down the Hall, with everyone staring at her, except the eight of them.

"What?" repeated Sirius quietly, after she had left.

"Well, we might as well," Lily whispered back. "they could be in it, after all!"

"In what?" she whispered excitedly, sitting down on the other side of Lily. Frank sat beside her.

"Lily!" whined Sirius.

"We're telling them!" she said.

"Telling us _what?"_ Alice was dying to know.

"Curiosity killed the cat!" said Sirius.

"I'm no cat!" Alice spat back.

"We'll tell you after lunch. There's too many people here!"

"well, Lily, there's a lot of people outside too," James pointed out.

"Guess we should read in the Room, then," said Remus.

"_Read?" _said Alice incredulously. "You got these guys – the Marauders – to _read?"_

"I'm shocked!" said Frank.

"Why does everyone sound so damn surprised?" asked Sirius angrily.

"Because we hardly ever see you reading, Black," snorted Alice.

"She's got you there, mate," said Frank, almost apologetically.

"Well, it's a damn good book!"

"What is it?"

"We'll tell you after lunch!"

"What's this room you were talking about?"

"Merlin you ask a lot of questions!"

"Unlike you, Black, I actually like to know things."

"Very funny, Prewett!"

"Stop arguing! The longer it takes to eat, the longer 'till we get to read!" said Lily.

They all shut up and began shoveling food into their mouths.

"Wow, this must be a damn good book for them to want to read it so badly," said Alice.

"Believe me, it is!" said Lily. This made Alice even more curious. Frank just grinned at the way she was dying to know.

When they had finally finished, they went again to the seventh floor corridor and James started walking in front of the wall.

"Where are we –" began Frank. "Oh, of course. The _Room!"_ He said.

"Uh, Lily? Has James gone insane?" asked Alice.

"No. Just watch."

"What's – oh!" she squealed as a door appeared on the wall.

"Ladies first," said James, holding the door open for Tonks, Lily and Alice, pushing Sirius roughly to the side so he didn't go in first.

Sirius hit James on the head as he walked in, muttering, "Git!"

"Wow! What is this place?" asked Alice. Like before, it had the same comfortable sofas, beanbags, and squashy chairs like the ones in the common room. There was even a fire. The only difference was that the ceiling was really, really high, almost as high as in the great hall.

"The Room of Requirement," said James. "Turns into whatever you need it to be. Just walk past the wall thrice, thinking of exactly what you need, and voila!"

"Wow! How did you find this place?"

"Long story short, we're the Marauders!" said Sirius.

"Oh, of course," snorted Alice. "So how come the ceiling is so high up?"

"You'll see," said James mischievously.

"Well, never mind that … the book!" said Lily.

"OH! YEAH!" Alice had nearly forgotten about the mysterious book when she had entered the amazing room.

"so … what is it?" asked Frank.

"This!" said Lily, showing them the book.

"Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone? He related to you, Potter?" asked Alice.

"Well, not yet."

"Not yet?" questioned Frank.

"Well, he's not exactly –"

"Born, yet," Lily finished for him.

"What?" they both said.

"Look at the copyright. That should clear some stuff up."

"1997!" she exclaimed.

"Yup."

"So it's from –" said Frank.

"The future? Yeah," said Sirius.

"Wow. So he's your –" began Alice.

"Son? Yeah," said James.

"So who's the –" Alice said.

"Mother? Me." said Lily.

"No way!" cried Alice.

"Yup," said James happily.

"No!"

"Yes."

"No!"

"_yes!"_ said James, starting to get a little annoyed.

"But … how? _Why?_"

"Who knows. I never thought it would happen!"

"Hey!"

"Sorry, but that's the truth."

James looked a little sad. "Well, let's get on with the book, anyway."

"Can I read?" asked Alice.

"Right now it's Wormtail, but you can go next," said James.

"What about me?" whined Tonks.

"You've read once, but Alice just joined. And after that Frank should have a go."

"FINE!"

"Good. So how far have you guys gotten?"

So, once again, they explained what had happened in the book so far.

"Wow. Your sister is such a –" began Alice.

"Yes, we know."

"I mean, she's really a –"

"Yes, Alice, we know!" said Lily.

"Let's get reading, then. Peter, go on."

They all settled down, with Lily and James sharing a comfortable beanbag, Alice and Frank on a sofa, and the others on spread around.

**Halloween **

"Finally! Halloween is the best!" said Sirius.

"Best feast, that's for sure!"

**Malfoy couldn't believe his eyes when he saw that Harry and Ron were still at Hogwarts next day,**

"Shocking isn't it?" Sirius asked

"Oh yes, stunning. Never would have thought," said James.

**looking tired but perfectly cheerful.** **Indeed, by next morning Harry and Ron thought that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure and they were quite keen to have another one**

Lily muttered something to Alice that sounded to James like "just like his father!"

**In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.**

"The Philosopher's Stone," said Sirius.

"Yes, we know, Padfoot!"

**"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron. **

"Or both," said James.

**"Or both," said Harry. **

"Harry agrees!" James cheered.

**But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues. **

"Not much to go on, is it?" said Sirius.

"Thank you, captain obvious," said Alice. "Merlin, do they always talk this much?"

"Unfortunately."

"Don't lie, Lily."

"Well, you do!"

"Not about that! It's not unfortunate! Admit it, you like it when we talk! It keeps you entertained!"

"I guess it does," she said after a while.

**Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again. **

"I'm with him" Peter said

"Oh, Frank," Lily said.

"Yeah?"

"Umm … this Neville boy … " Lily began.

"Yeah … "

"He's your son," James said.

"WHAT?"

"Yup!" Sirius grinned.

"You sure about that?"

"How many Longbottoms do you think there are, Frank?" scoffed Sirius.

"I … I guess. So he's my son?" He asked again, as if to make sure.

"yup."

"Think I'm his mother, then?" asked Alice.

"I reckon you are," said James.

"I was asking Lily."

"And I answered. There a problem with that?"

"Guess not. Why do you think it's me?"

"Well, he said something about a crazy great-uncle Algie."

"Oh, Uncle Algie. Sounds like him."

"What does? Crazy?"

"Yes."

**Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron,**

"Probably a good thing," snorted Sirius.

**but she was such a bossy know-it-all that they saw this as an added bonus.** **All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived with the post about a week later. **

"Good" Sirius and James said

"Don't you guys want to know what it is before you say good?"

"What does it matter if it can be used to get back at Malfoy?" asked Sirius.

"Good point," said Alice.

"Wow!" exclaimed Sirius.

"What?"

"Can't believe you just agreed with me."

"Actually, neither can I," said Alice, somewhat amused.

**As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by long thin package carried by six large screech owls.**

"That'll be for him."

**. Harry was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of him, knocking his bacon to the floor.**

"Told ya!" said Sirius.

"Must be his broomstick!" said James excitedly.

"Calm down, before you wet yourself, Prongs!" said Remus.

**They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.  
Harry ripped open the letter first,** **which was lucky, because it said:**

_**DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.  
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, **_

"Brilliant! He got the best broom!"

_**but I don't want everyone knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one.**_

"Lucky he didn't open the broom first then, eh?" said Frank.

_**Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch pitch at seven o'clock for your first training session.**_

"YES!"

_**Professor M. McGonagall**_

**Harry had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Ron to read.**

**"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even touched one."**

"Neither have I," sighed James.

"It hasn't even been invented yet, dummy!" said Sirius.

**They left the Hall quickly, wanting to un-wrap the broomstick in private before their first lesson, but halfway across the Entrance Hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.**

"Yes!" said James happily. "Now he'll be able to shove it in Malfoy's face!"

**"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first-years aren't allowed them."**

"No, you slimy git, _you _aren't allowed broomsticks. Harry is special. He gets one," said Sirius.

**Ron couldn't resist it. "It's not any old broomstick," he said,**

James and Sirius grinned.

**"It's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" **

"Comets are okay, but Nimbus' beat them easily," James said wisely.

"Yeah!" said Frank.

**Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."**

"Exactly!"

**"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back."I suppose you and your brothers have to save up, twig by twig."**

"Why that filthy-" began James.

"Slimy-" added Sirius.

"Ugly-" said James.

"Stuck up-" Frank interjected.

"Snape-like –"

"Snape-like?" interrupted Alice.

"Yeah, Snape-like, cowardly little GIT!" finished James.

**Before Ron could answer, Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.** **"Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.**

"No, just talking politely like good little boys," snorted Sirius.

**"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly. **

"Tattletale" Sirius grumbled

"So what? I wish I could see his face when he finds out Harry was allowed!" said James.

"**Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"**

**"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. **

They all grinned.

**"And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added.**

"That there is shoving it in at its best!" said James proudly.

"Urgh, like father like son," said Alice.

"Hey!" said Lily. "He's my son too!"

"But he seems to have gotten all of James' genes!"

"And that's a bad thing, is it?" asked James.

"Matter of fact I think it is, Potter!"

"Shut up, Prewett!"

"Don't talk to her like that," threatened Frank, but not seriously.

"What you gonna do about it, Franky?"

"This," he said, tying Sirius up with a flick of his wand.

"Git!" Sirius grumbled.

"That doesn't work on Sirius," said James.

"It doesn't?"

"No. He just squirms his way out of it. Observe."

As if on cue, Sirius began wriggling around, and he got out of his bonds.

"Merlin! How does he do that?" asked Alice.

"He practiced," grinned James.

**Harry and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion.** **"Well it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase. "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Rememberall I wouldn't be in the team ..." **

"Yup! He got them back alright!" James chortled.

"He stole my son's rememberall?" fumed Frank.

"Easy, Frank. Harry got it back for him, remember?"

"Ye – yeah. Okay."

"Besides, I think Neville was more worried about having just broken his wrist," snorted James.

"He what?" cried Alice and Frank.

"Merlin, we really suck at explaining things. How could we have left that out?"

"Don't know."

"So what happened?" asked Frank.

"Well, he got a wild broomstick in their first flying lesson.

"oooh, poor Neville!"

"Yeah. Went right up, and he fell off it, broke his wrist."

"Ouch!"

"You can say that again!"

**"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them.**

"Granger," they all, except Alice and Frank, groaned.

"Who's Granger?"

"We forget to mention her as well?" said Sirius lazily.

"I think we did, Paddy," said James.

"Yup. Seems like it"

"She's dead annoying," said Sirius.

"She's not that bad," said Lily. "She just knows what's right and wrong."

"Lily, come on! See, she's this bossy, arrogant girl in their year – unfortunately also a Gryffindor – who is an annoying know-it-all, and a bookworm," said James.

"Well, if you put it like that anyone would sound horrible!"

"That's 'cause she is!"

Alice and Frank laughed.

**Hermione was stomping up the stairs looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hands. **

"Yep! God she's a pain!"

"Well, I guess she can't help it. That's the way she was born."

"Bet she can," said Sirius.

"How much?" asked James immediately.

"Merlin, Prongs, think of something other than betting!" said Remus.

**"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.**

**"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "it's doing us so much good." **

"Always know what to say, doesn't he?" said Sirius,

"Yup, just like us two," James grinned happily.

"That can't be good," said Tonks.

"OI!" they both yelled.

"She's right!" said Alice. "I don't think we've been introduced. Alice Prewett, apparently going to become Alice Longbottom eventually," she added, grinning at Frank.

"I'm Frank Longbottom."

"Yeah, i heard. I'm Tonks," said Tonks.

"Just Tonks?" asked Alice

"Yup."

"No!" said Sirius.

"Don't!" Tonks warned.

"Don't what? Tell her that your first name is Nymphedora, or that you hate it when people call you that?" teased Sirius.

"SIRIUS!" she yelled.

"What's wrong with Nymphedora?" asked Alice.

"I just don't like it, that's all," she said as she lunged at Sirius. He jumped off the sofa he was sharing with Moony, and Tonks accidentally jumped right on top of Remus.

"Sorry Remus," Tonks said, blushing slightly. Lucky for her, no one noticed … or so she thought. In fact Remus had noticed and his eyebrows were starting to disappear up into his hair as he raised them.

She quickly got off and started chasing Sirius in a great big circle around the seats.

"It's usually James and Sirius that are noisy," Lily informed Alice and Frank.

"Yup. They're noisy all right," said Frank, who knew the boys quite well.

"Interesting."

"Alright, settle down, you two."

Only after she had thumped Sirius on the head – hard – did Tonk sit down quietly and listen. Sirius grumbled as he sat down on a chair beside James, further away from Tonks.

**Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.**

**Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory, where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or straying off to the Quidditch pitch **

"Best place to be!" grinned Frank.

"I totally agree!" said James.

**where he'd be learning to play that night.** **He bolted his dinner that evening without even noticing what he was eating and then rushed upstairs with Ron to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last. **

"Yes! He's going to play quidditch!" James cried happily.

**"Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled on to Harry's bedspread. Even Harry, who knew nothing about the different brooms thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, **

"My wand's Mahogany," said James.

"And we care because … ?" said Sirius.

**it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.**

"Wow," breathed James. "Wish mine was as great as that."

**As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry left the castle and set off towards the Quidditch pitch in the dusk. He'd never been inside the stadium before. **

James groaned and started hitting his head against the floor

"Calm down, Jamie," said Tonks. "Don't want to crack open your head, do you?"

"Stop calling me Jamie!" he cried, still hitting his head.

"I don't want your head to be cracked open for our first date next weekend, at Hogsmeade!" said Lily.

"Date's on!" cried James happily.

"Why not?" shrugged Lily. James beamed and sat back down on the beanbag with Lily.

**Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the pitch so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the pitch were three golden poles with hoops on the end. They reminded Harry of the little plastic sticks Muggle children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet high. **

"Bubbles?" James asked. "Through hoops?"

Sirius grinned and began explaining. "There is this liquidy, soapy sort of thing, and they put a small stick with the hoop at the end in it, and you blow, and the soapy stuff is stuck inside the hoop, and when you blow there's bubbles!" he said excitedly.

"You learned _that_ in Muggle Studies?" asked James incredulously.

"You took Muggle Studies?" asked Alice incredulously.

"No and yes."

"Then where'd you learn that?" asked Frank.

"I have my ways."

"Whatever. Doesn't really matter."

"We should try it, though," said James.

"Try what?" asked Lily worriedly. James had that dangerous look on his face which always meant he had another crazy idea.

"Make bubbles come out of the goal posts!" explained James.

"YEAH!" cried Sirius so loudly, that James had to jump away from him and onto Lily's lap.

"That's nice, Prongs," said Remus. "Just jump onto her lap. Sure she wouldn't mind!"

James blushed and got off. Lily grinned at the look on his face.

To save his dignity, he asked, "So you guys in for that bubble thing?"

"Yeah," said Alice and, much to everyone's surprise, Lily.

"Why not," said Tonks.

"You think you can handle it?"

"Why wouldn't I be able to?" she asked fiercely. "Because I'm a girl?"

"Merlin, no! We don't mind the other girls helping. But you're a firstie."

"Stop calling me that. It's almost as bad as Nymphedora."

"Whatever. I think she's proved that she can handle it already, Paddy," said James. Sirius touched his still-hurting head and nodded.

"I'm in too," said Frank.

"So that's all of us, yeah?"

"Who says I'm in?" asked Remus.

"I just did."

"Well I didn't."

"So? You don't want to?"

"I do, I'm just saying."

"Saying what?"

"That you should let me speak for myself, Padfoot."

"Whatever. That's all of us, right?"

"What about me?" asked Peter.

James and Sirius exchanged glances. "You're not exactly the best on the broom."

"Neither's Lily," he whined.

"Well, I'm better at magic," she said.

Wormtail looked sad.

"Come on, keep reading." Wormtail sighed and continued.

**Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling –**

"Isn't it?" James sighed. The others on the team nodded.

**he swooped in and out of the goalposts and then sped up and down the pitch. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted at his lightest touch. **

"I want a broom like that! Stupid old Comet 180!" moaned Sirius.

"Me too!" said James.

"Me three," said Remus.

"Me four, said Alice.

"Me five!" said Frank.

"Me six," said Sirius.

"You already said you wanted one!"

"Yeah, but I wanted to say a number!"

**"Hey, Potter, come down!"** **Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate under his arm. Harry landed next to him. "Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant ... you really are a natural.**

"'course he is!" said James.

**I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."** **He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.**

**"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play**. **There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers." **

"That's me," grinned James.

"And me," added Alice.

"And me!"

**"Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a football. **

**"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try to get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"**

**"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So - that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?" **

**"What's basketball?" **

"Good Question, Wormy," James said.

"No, it was in the book."

"Oh. Well, anyway, what _is _basketball?"

"Muggle sport. Absolutely brilliant!" said Sirius. "Played it with those same Muggle boys.

"What Muggle boys?" asked Alice.

"Never mind. Anyway, it's five people on each team, "

"Only five?"

"Yeah. And they bounce the ball on the ground, and pass it to each other, and try to shoot it through a round net thing. Brilliant game.

"Sounds pretty good. But there's no flying in it," James pointed out.

"Yeah. Muggle sports would be so much better if you could fly in them."

**said Wood curiously.**

**"Never mind," said Harry quickly.**

**"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper **

"Moony!" Sirius cried.

Remus grinned.

**- I'm the Keeper for Gryffindor.**

"Knew he had to be a keeper!" said James.

"Course! His dad – erm, Roger was his dad, right?" Frank added uncertainly.

"Yeah."

"Well, his father was the best damn Keeper in the world!" Frank finish. "Sorry, Remus," he added.

"No problem. They've already told me Roger was better than me!"

"Oh, ok then."

**I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."**

**"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. OK, got that. So what are they for?" he pointed at the three balls left inside the box.**

**"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this." He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a rounders bat**

"Like a what bat?" asked James.

"Don't look at me. I've never heard of it," said Sirius.

"it's … umm … there is one person, the pitcher, who throws the ball at a person with the bat, the batter, and if he hits the ball, he has to run around these four plates called bases. Get to the last base and you score a point."

"I like the part with the bat," said Sirius, grinning.

"You would."

"Yes, and I do."

"Shut up, Black," said Alice.

"Make me!"

"Fine," and she raised her wand.

"NO!"

"wow, she's not even been here for a whole chapter and she already knows that she should silence you!"

"Shut up, Moony!"

"Don't tell me to shut up!"

"What are you going to do about it?"

"I don't know … maybe throw you up and about," he said, looking at the high ceiling.

Sirius' eyes widened, and he went quiet.

"Merlin, how did you do that?" asked Alice.

"You see, he has a weakness," said Remus.

"What!" exclaimed Alice. Frank grinned.

"He's –"

"NO! Moony! Don't! She'll use it against me!"

"Well, that's the point!" said James. "Besides, you told Lily about me and Tonks."

"Yeah!" said Tonks.

What about him and Tonks?" asked Frank.

"Never mind. What is it with Sirius!" demanded Alice.

"He's dead afraid –"

"NO!"

"of –"

"PRONGS!"

"heights!"

"NOOOOOOO!"

"No way!"

"Yup!"

"But … but you play Quidditch!" said Frank

"Yeah, you're so high up then …" said Alice.

"Yeah, well. Then he has a broom. But we like to leave him hanging up there," said James, looking at the ceiling

"So that's why it's so high up!" said Alice.

"Yup!"

"Git!" said Sirius.

"Watch it!"

"Well, Prongs is ticklish!"

"NO! you little git!"

Sirius grinned.

"Who would have thought that the Marauders would have a weakness!"

"Well, they do," said Remus. "Not me."

"Yes you do!"

"What?"

"I just don't know what it is yet," mumbled Sirius.

They laughed.

"Why don't I test out the weaknesses?" asked Alice playfully.

"No!" said Sirius, horrified.

"Yeah, let's do it, Alice!" said Frank.

"Please no!" cried Sirius. "Have mercy!"

Too late. He was already hurtling up in the air. They all started laughing as he almost hit the roof.

"Let him down already," said James after a while.

"Yeah, it's your turn now, isn't it?"

"Wha – NO! Forget Sirius, leave him there!"

"Nice to see how quickly you turn on your friends."

"You would too."

"LET ME DOWN!" roared Sirius, trying to sound fierce and not frightened.

"Alright, alright!"

And Sirius was once again crashing down to the ground. He shrieked as he approached the ground.

"Stooooop!" he yelled. Alice grinned and stopped him inches from the ground, then left him hanging there.

"Well, are you going to put me down?" he asked, irritated.

"No."

"What?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"You're less irritating when I am in charge."

"You are not in charge!"

"Really? Do you want to go back up?"

"No!" he replied immediately.

Alice grinned and he landed roughly on the ground. Sirius lay there for a while, then grabbed his wand and next second, Alice was upside down, in mid air, with an invisible force holding on to her ankle.

"You idiot! Let me down!" she demanded as the rest of them fell apart laughing.

"NO!" he said defiantly.

"Let her down!" demanded Frank, taking out his own wand.

"You wait, when I get down … "

"If you guys both promise not to do anything to each other, will you let her down?" Lily asked.

Sirius frowned, then nodded. Alice sighed then said, "Yes." Frank kept his wand out, just in case.

"Sirius, let her down!"

Alice fell to the ground in a little heap.

"Git!"

"Talking about yourself, are you?" asked Sirius. Frank shook his head. "That's gonna piss her off, that is."

"STOP IT!" Lily demanded. "Let's just read the book!"

"Guess Lily's in charge here, eh?" said Frank.

"Yup."

**"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are Bludgers."**

"Those really hurt," said Alice.

"Wow, did you figure that all out by yourself, Prewett?" Sirius said sarcastically.

Alice made a face at him. Frank merely grinned.

**He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box. **

"I love the bludgers" Sirius grinned

"You would, you're almost part bludger yourself" Remus said.

"Thanks Moony!" said Sirius happily.

"Not sure that was a compliment, Paddy," said James.

"I take is as a compliment anyway."

"Suit yourself."

**"Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers. At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face.**

"Scary when they do that."

**Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it breaking his nose**

"That's a good idea," said Sirius.

**and sent it zig-zagging away into the air - it zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.**

**"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely.**

**"The Bludgers rocket around trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team. The Weasley twins are ours- **

"Those two are probably great beaters!" said Sirius.

"better than you?" asked Frank.

"Hah! No chance. I'm the best there is!"

**their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them towards the other team. So - think you've got all that?"**

**"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goalposts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off.**

**"Very good," said Wood.**

**"Er - have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand. **

"Not at Hogwarts" James assured him

"Broken the odd bone or two, but no one's died here." Said Sirius.

"Nope. No deaths."

"You do realize that Harry can't hear you, right?" said Alice.

"So?"

"Whatever."

**"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that. Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker.**

"That's Harry!" beamed James.

**That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers -"**

"Unless they crack his head open," said Sirius.

"Sirius!"

"What?"

**" - unless they crack my head open."**

"See? Everyone thinks about that!"

**"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers - I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves.**

"They're like the future Sirius and James!" said Remus exasperatedly.

"I know! Isn't it great!" said Sirius

"Not really," said Tonks.

"Hey!"

**Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.**

**"This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. **

"Not for an expert seeker it isn't" James said happily.

"And that's harry!" said Sirius.

**It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points,**

"No pressure, though," said James.

"Nope, none at all."

**so they nearly always win.**

"Yeah, but not always!"

**That's why seekers get fouled so much.** **A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages - I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep.**

"Brilliant game, that one." Said James.

"Yup. Cannons versus Tornadoes, wasn't it?" asked Frank.

"Yup. Legendary. Every time either one of the Seekers came near the snitch, they were hit by a bludger. 'Course, the second lot of players weren't that great, but it was still a brilliant match."

"How do you know all that? Were you there?" scoffed Lily.

"No. but I've read up on it."

"Shame the Cannons went so far downhill. They used to be so damn good," said Sirius.

"Not anymore, that's for sure."

"Yup."

**Well, that's it - any questions?"**

**Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right; it was doing it that was going to be the problem.**

"Yup."

**"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate. "It's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you with a few of these."**

**He pulled out a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket, and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the ball as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.**

"Bet he doesn't miss a single one!" said James proudly.

"I'll take you up on that bet. How much?" asked Frank

"Two Galleons."

"I want into!" said Sirius.

"Deal." They all said.

"Just to let you know, Frank, it's not a good idea to make bets with Prongs," said Remus.

"Why not?"

"He's a sore loser, and en even sorer winner!" said Sirius.

"OI!"

**Harry didn't miss a single one,**

"HAH! Fork up my money!"

"See?"

"Damn kid couldn't have missed just one?" grumbled Sirius, handing over the money. Frank only smirked as he handed over his money.

"Watch what you say about my son, Padfoot!" exclaimed James.

"Merlin, do you have to be so loud?" asked Sirius, rubbing his ears.

"That's coming from you, the loudest of us all!"

"Matter of fact it is!"

**and Wood was delighted. **

"So am I!" James said happily, counting all the money he had won over the course of the book. "I'm bloody well rich already!"

**After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.** **"That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle.** **"I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England **

"So Harry could play for England too?" James asked excitedly

**if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons." **

"Dragons" Sirius grinned.

"Sirius was dying for one of those in third year, after care of magical creatures."

"You did Dragons in third year?" asked Tonks excitedly.

"No, but he skimmed through the text book and found it."

"Wouldn't shut up about them," said Frank.

"Nope. But he still doesn't shut up," said James.

**Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly believe it when he realized that he'd already been at Hogwarts two months.** **The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive had ever done.**

"No surprise there, really," said James. "After what he had to go through with those idiot Dursley gits."

"It would've been horrible for me too, and I've lived with my mother!" exclaimed Sirius.

**His lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.  
On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom.**

They grinned.

"He's got a toad?" asked Frank interestedly.

"Yeah, but he always loses it."

**Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye).**

"What's wrong with my son?" demanded Alice and Frank

"He's not definitely your son, Alice," James pointed out.

"Well, for now he is. And even if he isn't, what's wrong with Frank's son?"

"Yeah, what's wrong with my son?"

"Good point. I actually like you, Frank," said Sirius.

"But he's already taken, Padfoot," said James cheekily.

Sirius glared at him.

"What?" asked Frank, confused.

"See, Padfoot here is -"

"PRONGS!" warned Sirius.

"Gay!" finished James happily. Alice and Frank burst out laughing, and Sirius jumped on top of James.

"SIRIUS!" gasped James. "I told you, I'm straight!"

"You git!" he roared. James grinned.

"You will pay."

"How? What're you gonna do?"

"Say you're sorry, or you will be," said Sirius in a quiet voice.

"NO!"

"Say it."

"NO!"

"SAY IT POTTER!"

"Fine, IT!"

"You asked for it. Don't say I didn't warn you!" he had a mad look in his eye.

"Paddy – what're you - AAH!" James began laughing uncontrollably as Sirius began tickling him like mad.

"Can I just finish the chapter?" asked Peter timidly.

"We're not stopping you," said Sirius innocently.

"Yes, but the laughing is getting loud."

Alice, who had also been laughing, promptly Silenced James.

"Problem solved!" said Sirius happily, still tickling. "Thank you, Prewett."

"You can call me Alice if you want, Sirius."

Sirius nodded, not looking away from James, who was now laughing silently, eyes watering, but still managed to glare at Sirius.

"Go ahead, Peter," said Sirius.

**Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. **

"Uh oh" said Lily.

"What?" asked Sirius. "Sorry, wasn't listening."

They grinned at him.

James' groan went unheard.

"Ron's gonna be working with Granger," said Lily.

"Oh, poor Ron," Sirius said absently.

**It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived. **

"Oh what a shame" Alice said

"So sad" Sirius agreed

"Pity."

"Their bad luck."

**"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual.** **"Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick.**

"I remember when we did that."

"Got it first try," said Lily proudly.

"Took me around three or four tries," said Remus.

"Same here," said Alice.

"Yup, bout five or six for me," said Frank.

"Wow. Took us about twenty tries," said Sirius, looking at the still-silenced James, who was squirming under him.

"Pathetic!" said Lily.

"Well, it was still better than Wormtail!"

"Hey," he squeaked.

"Well, it's true! You didn't get it at all! Took you like three lessons!"

"It's hard for some people," he mumbled. Lily had to fight back the urge to laugh at him.

**And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."**

"He told us that too," Sirius said. "I tried it."

"Idiot!"

"And?"

"Didn't work."

"Shame. Would've been nice if it had done some damage," smirked Alice.

"That hurt, Pr – Alice. It really did."

"not as much as you're hurting Jamie," said Tonks.

"That's probably true," said Sirius thoughtfully. "Unsilence him for a bit and I'll ask."

Alice laughed and did so.

"YOU BLOODY GIT SIRIUS BLACK!" roared James through the laughter.

Sirius grinned. "I'm not hurting you, am i?"

"Might as- as well b-be!" he gasped.

"See? I'm not hurting him."

"GIT!"

"You're in no position to be calling names."

"Can do – whatever- want!" grumbled James.

"Whatever."

"S - Snake!"

"Hey!"

"Sn - Snape-like!"

"Watch it! I'm already tickling you, but I could also use the tickling charm and tie you up. That's way worse."

"Git!" breathed James as he was Silenced again.

**It was very difficult.** **Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skywards just lay on the desktop.**

"Guess he didn't get my Charms skills," sighed Lily.

**Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it –**

"We almost did that, didn't we Prongs?" teased Sirius. James tried to glare at him through the laughter, but failed.

**Harry had to put it out with his hat.** **Ron, at the next table, wasn't having much more luck. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.**

"not gonna work," said Peter.

"You should know, you did that!" said Sirius, glancing away from James.

He seized his chance, and threw Sirius off. Sirius grunted. Tonks, Lily and Peter gave Remus 5 Galleons each.

James took out his wand and pointed it at Sirius.

"NO!" cried Sirius. James mouthed the word, 'yes'

Sirius looked horrified. Before he could say anything else, he was once again tossed high into the air. James grinned, took his wand away from Sirius and Unsilenced himself, as Sirius began crashing down to earth. James pointed the wand at him again, and stopped the falling and shrieking Sirius. Sirius growled at him.

"Should I let you down?" called James.

"YES!"

"'kay."

"No no no don't – ARGH!" He again came crashing down. James was really enjoying this. He stopped him a few feet from the ground, then let him fall hard. Remus got even more money from the others.

"See what happens when you mess with me?" growled James happily. Sirius merely lay on the ground where he had landed, somewhere near Remus and Tonks.

"Shall I continue?" asked Peter.

"Sure," said Sirius, getting up slowly.

**"You're saying it wrong," Harry heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."**

"Let's see her do it, then, if she's so clever!" said Sirius.

**"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled. **

Sirius blinked.

"Didn't I tell you they were meant for each other? Exact same thoughts!" said James.

Sirius looked like he wanted to say something, but then he glanced at the ceiling and decided against it.

**Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"**

"I'll bet she does it," sighed Sirius.

"How much?" asked James.

"I didn't mean it like that! But – wait, doesn't matter. Two Galleons!"

James grinned. "You're on!"

"Easiest money I've ever made!"

**Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.**

"Hah!" yelled Sirius.

"Stupid feather," muttered James, giving him the money.

"Like this one?" asked Sirius innocently, conjuring a feather. James looked at it uneasily.

**"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"**

"Show off!" said James and Sirius.

"Guys!" said Lily reprovingly.

"What? You weren't all show off-y when you did it first time!" said James.

"Well … yeah, but she's not really doing anything. It's Flitwick!"

**Ron was in a very bad temper by the end of the class. "It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor. **

"That's a bit harsh" Alice said.

**"She's a nightmare, honestly."** **Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. **

"Uh Oh."

"Can't be good," said Sirius, twirling the feather. James couldn't stop glancing at it.

**Harry caught a glimpse of her face - and was startled to see that she was in tears. **

"Well you would be too if you had just heard someone saying you were a nightmare" Lily said reasonably.

"Yeah. I think she heard him," said Sirius.

"Wow! D'you figure that out all by yourself?" said James sarcastically.

"Watch it," said Sirius, fingering the feather.

"You watch it," said James looking from his wand to the ceiling.

"Both of you watch it!" said Remus. "Shut up and let Peter read!"

**"I think she heard you."**

"See? Harry thinks like me!" said Sirius.

"Poor Harry," sighed James.

"OI!"

**"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable.** **"She must've noticed she's got no friends."**

"That's just mean, mate!" said Sirius. "Even I wouldn't go there!"

"You sure about that?"

"Course!"

"What about with Snape?" said Remus triumphantly.

"Well, Snivelly's a different case. He's a guy. I wouldn't do that to a girl, though."

"You know, they say you only tease the people you like," said James cheekily. "So that must mean that Sirius likes –"

"HEY!" growled Sirius. "THAT IS JUST TOO FAR!"

James started to laugh.

"You know, you tease him just as much as I do!"

James stopped laughing. "Well, I'm straight."

"So am I!"

"Where's your proof?"

"Where's yours?"

"I've got a girlfriend! Who is going to be my wife! And we have a son!"

"Yeah, but none of that's happened yet, has it?"

"So? It's going to!"

"How d'you know? We could be changing the future by reading about it, you know!" said Sirius.

"He's actually right," said Remus thoughtfully, stopping James. They all paused to think.

"Interesting. So you think we can prevent stuff from happening by reading the book?" asked James.

"Maybe."

"Wow." Said James.

"Yeah," agreed Sirius.

"Cool," said James.

"Yeah," Sirius said

"Idiot!" said Lily.

"Yeah," said Sirius. "Wait! I mean no!" he added as everyone started to laugh.

**Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon.** **On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' toilets and wanted to be left alone.**

"Poor girl," said Lily.

"I feel bad for her," Alice added.

"As annoying as she is, I kind of do too," said James, much to everyone's surprise. They looked at Sirius.

"Fine! I feel bad for her too! Happy?"

**Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of their minds.**

"Puts everything else out of your mind, really."

"Yup."

"Excellent decorations," said James.

"And an even better feast," added Sirius.

"Ah yes, the Halloween Feast! Only thing better than that is –"

"Christmas Feast!" said Sirius happily. "Well, if you stay here, which I always used to do. Till I moved in with Prongs"

"You did?"

"Yeah. Long story, but basically my parents are stark raving mad, drove me crazy, I ran away, and Prongs' parents practically adopted me!"

"Wow."

"Not really."

"I've stayed once, to keep Paddy company. Great food," said James.

"Yup," agreed Remus.

"I've never stayed, but I think I will this year," said Lily. "Petunia is bringing Vernon over, and I would die if I had to see him again."

"He'd probably take up all the space in your house anyway," snorted James.

"Good point."

"Thanks, Paddy!"

"Most welcome, Prongs!"

"Not this again!" sighed lily. "Just get on with the book!"

**A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles and pumpkins skitter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.**

**Harry was just helping himself to a jacket potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the Hall, his turban askew and terror on his face.** **Everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table and gasped. "Troll - in the dungeons - **

"Troll?"

"In the dungeons?"

"How'd that get in?"

"Who knows."

**thought you ought to know." He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.**

"And that's their brave Defense teacher!" said Sirius sarcastically.

"Merlin, that wimp is Defense teacher?" scoffed Frank.

"Unfortunately."

**There was uproar. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.**

"Purple? Is he gay or something?" mocked Sirius.

"Be nice, Paddy. Actually … I think he might be!"

"No way!" said Tonks.

"You guys didn't _ask_ him, did you?" asked Lily worriedly.

"Merlin, no! Imagine how awkward that would be! Umm, Professor Dumbledore, we were wondering if you were gay? Why, what a delightful question! Of course I am!" said Sirius sardonically.

They all laughed.

"The conversations you guys have are ridiculous," said Alice.

"Well, you're part of the group now, so they are just as much your conversations as they are ours," said Sirius seriously (Pun intended) "Right Prongs?"

"Most definitely!"

"So glad to be part of your precious inner circle," said Alice in a mock-gracious voice, giving a little curtsy in her seat..

"Was that sarcasm I heard?"

"Why, I think it was, Prongs!"

"And after we were nice enough to let her in!"

"I know!"

"Shut up," said Alice.

"Now she's telling us to shut up!"

"Is there no limit to her rudeness?"

"Shut up!" yelled Tonks.

"Now she's got Tonks doing it as well!"

"Shut up!" yelled Lily, lifting her wand.

"Right, shutting up."

"Shutting up."

**"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your houses back to the dormitories immediately!"**

**Percy was in his element. **

"He would be" Sirius muttered "Bloody prefects"

"Hey!" Lily and Remus cried.

"Sorry, not counting the wonderful Lily, who is a marvelous prefect," said Sirius.

"Better."

"What about me?" asked Remus.

"And the dashing Remus, who is an equally excellent Prefect!"

"Dashing? He's straight, Paddy!"

"That's not what I – oh forget it. _Silencio_."

'That wasn't nice, Paddy!' wrote James with his wand. 'not nice at all!'

**"Follow me! Stick together, first-years! no need to fear the troll if you follow my orders!**

"Oh yeah, cause he can defeat a troll all by himself, right?" scoffed Sirius. James poked Sirius in the ribs. Sirius jumped up.

"So you're ticklish too, are you?" said Alice interestedly.

"No I'm not!" he said quickly.

"Oh, I think you are!" said Alice. James grinned.

Next second, Sirius was writhing on the floor, being tickled by invisible hands, and James was smiling evilly. Then he pointed his wand at himself and lifted the Silencing charm.

"How do _you_ like being tickled?" asked James.

"St – stop – stop it!" gasped Sirius.

"NO!" said James happily.

"James, the laughing is getting too loud," said Lily.

"Alright," and he pointed his wand at Sirius, and he fell silent.

"Better," said Lily.

"Go on, Pete," said James. "Just ignore Ticklebug here."

**Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first-years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a Prefect!"**

**"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.**

**"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke." **

"I suppose" Lily said doubtfully

"I don't think Peeves would do that," Said James. "He has some sort of boundaries."

"Yeah."

Sirius managed to nudge James with his head. James looked at him and then sighed and took off the charm, but left him Silent. Sirius glared at him.

**They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed Ron's arm.** **"I've just thought - Hermione." **

'what about her?' Sirius asked, using his wand to write.

"She doesn't know! She's been in the bloody bathroom, idiot!" said James.

'don't call me an idiot, prongs!'

"It's capital P, and I can call you whatever I want. Besides, you're in no position to make threats. You can't do any magic because you can't do wordless spells!"

Sirius made a face.

"He can't do wordless spells?" Alice asked incredulously.

"Nope, 'said James, grinning broadly.

**"What about her?"**

**"She doesn't know about the troll."**

**Ron bit his lip. "Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."**

"That's not their biggest problem!"

**Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor and hurried off towards the girls' toilets. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them. **

"Busted!" James sighed.

**"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin. Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. **

'Snape? What's that grease ball doing there?' wrote Sirius as he prodded James with his finger.

"Stop it, Paddy! Fine, there you go!"

"Thanks!"

"Now, why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?" asked James.

**He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view. "What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"**

"Exactly!" said James.

"Yes, Harry said the same thing as you, big deal," said Remus tiredly.

"Spoilsport!"

**"Search me."**

**Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps. "He's heading for the third floor," Harry said,**

"He's gonna try and get past that dog!" said James.

"No way!" said Frank.

"Yeah, he must be!"

**but Ron held up his hand.**

**"Can you smell something?"**

"Uh-oh … " gulped James.

"That must be …" continued Sirius.

"The troll," they both finished.

**Harry sniffed and a foul stench reached his nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.**

They wrinkled their noses

"That is disgusting" Alice muttered

**And then they heard it - a low grunting and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet.** **Ron pointed: at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving towards them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.** **It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.**

"Bloody detail description, innit?" said Sirius.

"Creates a damn horrible image!" said James disgustedly.

**The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.**

**"The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in." **

"But … " began James.

"Isn't that … " Sirius said.

"The girls bathroom?" Frank finished, horrified.

**"Good idea," said Ron nervously.** **They edged towards the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door and lock it. "Yes!" **

"No…" Remus moaned

**Flushed with their victory they started to run back up the passage, but as they reached the corner they heard something that made their hearts stop -** **A high, petrified scream - and it was coming from the chamber they'd just locked up. **

"Oh Merlin!" cried Lily.

"Poor Hermione!" Alice cried, aghast.

**"Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.**

"Why the Bloody Baron? They're all pale, aren't they?"

"Shut up, Sirius!"

**"It's the girls' toilets!" Harry gasped.**

**"Hermione!" they said together.** **It was the last thing they wanted to do,**

"Oh no," cried Lily.

"Yes!" cried James and Sirius.

**but what choice did they have?**

"They're not going to …? " began Lily.

"Oh yes they are!" said James happily.

**Wheeling around they sprinted back to the door and turned the key, fumbling in their panic -Harry pulled the door open - they ran inside.**

"Woohoo! Go Harry!" screamed James.

"That is such a stupid thing to do!" said Lily.

"He's a Gryffindor!" said James.

"SO? Does that mean he has to be plain stupid?"

"Come on! We would totally have done the same thing!" said James.

"Yup," said Sirius.

"He's right," Remus grinned.

"I – I guess," said Peter.

"I would too!" said Frank. Alice looked at him with raised eyebrows.

**Hermione Granger was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she were about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.**

"Not good," said Sirius,

"No _really?"_ said Frank sarcastically.

**"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and seizing a tap he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.** **The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione.**

"Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," said Sirius uncertainly.

**It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.**

"Definitely not good!" said James.

"RUN!" cried Lily.

"Don't do anything stupid!" said Alice.

"well, he can't help it, he's Prongs' son!" said Remus.

"Hey!"

**"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it.**

"Hehe … Pea-brain," said Sirius.

"Good thing Ron was there!"

**The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout towards Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.**

"What're they waiting for? It's bloody well distracted! RUN!"

**"Come on, run, run!" Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door, but she couldn't move, she was still flat against the wall, her mouth open with terror.**

"Merlin! MOVE WOMAN!" cried Sirius.

"Calm down, Padfoot," said Remus.

"How can I? This is just so damn exciting!"

**The shouting and the echoes seemed to be driving the troll berserk. It roared again and started towards Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.** **Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid:**

"Oh no!" cried Lily, hiding her face in her hands.

"Bloody hell, Harry! Don't be an idiot!" said James anxiously.

**He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind.**

Lily gasped.

"Merlin!" said Sirius. "What'd he do that for?"

**The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose,**

"It didn't!" gasped Sirius.

"Didn't what?" asked Lily, looking up.

"It did! His wand went up its nose!" cried James.

"EWWWW!" cried all of the girls, even Tonks, who was pretty much a tomboy.

"That is disgusting!"

"Urgh!"

**and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped - it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.**

"Yup."

"Probably covered in snot then," said Sirius.

"Urgh!"

"What? It's the truth! His wand will be covered in Troll bogies because it's been in a bloody troll's nose!"

"Stop it, Padfoot! That's disgusting!"

**Howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off of catch him a terrible blow with the club.**

"Oh Merlin no!" cried Lily.

"Ron! Do something!"

**Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright;**

"Get up, Damn it!" cried Frank.

**Ron pulled out his own wand - not knowing what he was going to do, he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: "Wingardium Leviosa!"**

"Brilliant, the one he can't do" Sirius muttered.

**The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air,**

"Thank Merlin he could do it this time!" said Lily, letting out a breath of air that she didn't know she was holding.

**turned slowly over - and dropped, with a sickening crack, on to its owner's head.**

They shuddered.

"Reckon it's dead?" asked Peter in a tiny voice.

"Who cares? Just let them get out of there!" cried Lily.

**The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble. Harry got to his feet.** **He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done.**

**It was Hermione who spoke first.**

"So _now_ she can move!" scoffed Sirius.

"well, she's not really _moving_, is she?"

**"Is it - dead?"**

**"I don't think so," said Harry. "I think it's just been knocked out." **

"Good enough," Lily said "Now get out of there!"

"Don't forget your wand though, Harry," said Sirius with a smirk on his face. The boys grinned.

**He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.**

"Urgh! Troll bogies!" shuddered James.

"**Urgh - troll bogies."**

James grinned.

**He wiped it on the troll's trousers. A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up.**

They groaned.

"Now what?"

"Teachers," sighed Sirius.

**They hadn't realized what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall **

"Fantastic" James said gloomily

**had come bursting into the room,** **closely followed by Snape, **

"Even better," sighed Sirius.

**with Quirrell bringing up the rear.**

"Thought he fainted," said Peter.

"Well, obviously someone woke him up!" said Lily exasperatedly.

**Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.**

"Bloody useless Defense teacher!" muttered Sirius.

**Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind.**

Alice snorted. "Doubt she'd do that."

**"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. **

All eight of them winced.

**Harry looked at Ron, who was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?" Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look.** **Harry looked at the floor. He wished Ron would put his wand down. **

"That'd help" Alice muttered

**Then a small voice came out of the shadows. "Please, Professor McGonagall - they were looking for me." **

**"Miss Granger!"** **Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last. **

"Gotten up at last, have we?"

**"I went looking for the troll because I - I thought I could deal with it on my own - you know, because I've read all about them."**

"She's _lying?"_ asked Sirius, amazed. "Ms. Don't-do-this-don't-do-that is _lying?"_

"And to a teacher!" added an equally amazed James.

**Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?**

"I know" Sirius said "It's like Snape not having greasy hair!"

"Now that's just wishful thinking!"

**"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Harry stuck his wand up its nose**

They snickered.

**and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they had arrived."** **Harry and Ron tried to look as if this story wasn't new to them. **

"It'll get easier with time don't worry" James assured

**"Well - in that case ..." said Professor McGonagall, staring at the three of them. "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"**

**Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble.** **It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.**

"That's even less likely than the hair thing!" said Frank.

"Yeah, but if he did, I'd run away," said Sirius.

"Me too!" said James.

"**Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you are not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their houses."**

**Hermione left.** **Professor McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron.** **"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first-years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points.**

"Five point? Just _five bloody points?_"said Sirius, outraged.

"They defeated a damn mountain troll!" cried Frank.

"At least, like, twenty!"

**Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."**

**They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.**

**"We should have got more than ten points," Ron grumbled. **

"We know what you mean" Sirius grumbled

**"Five, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."**

"Argh!"

**"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we did save her." **

"She might not have needed saving if they hadn't locked the thing in with her," said James.

**"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.**

James laughed a bit.

**They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Pig snout," they said and entered.  
The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them.** **There was a very embarrassed pause. Then, none of them looking at each other, they all said "Thanks", and hurried off to get plates.**

"smoooooth," said Sirius.

**But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend.**

"Who would've thought?"

**There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.**

"That's a fair point," said Frank.

"Yup. If I saved Alice from a troll, I reckon we'd be friends then too," said Sirius.

"We are friends, Sirius, don't worry!" said Alice.

"Oh, yay!" he said sarcastically.

"Whatever, MY TURN!" cried Alice, grabbing the book from a surprised Peter.

**A/N: Well, another chapter finished. This took a bit longer than usual, but wasn't it worth it? no? oh well, at least it's here. 50 pages on word! Next one will hopefully be up sooner, but if you consider how long some other people take, it wasn't really that long! Okay, enough excuses! The next chapter is already started!**

**bye for now!  
Zeinab**

**Now R-E-V-I-E-W!**


	12. Look Who It Is!

**There's a surprise in here. Something/one that is totally unexpected (Unless you've read all of the reviews to the A/N after chapter 9) So I hope you like it! **

**Thanks to hugmeidontbite-butedwarddoes (cool name, btw), micahela, angelady, 14hp1, x-Faded-Star-x, DarkRoseDevon, dazzel21, traube, Maraudercat.xp and Black Forest Dragon for adding me to their Faves/Alerts, and special mention to pottarocks, for the suggestion, which I used. Also, you may or may not that here is also a certain reviewer I would like to mention, who so intellectually said about the first chapter, "the foul stench of this unworthy piece of diarrhoea (actually spelt diarrhea) is intoxicating to the point where I'd rather kill myself than go on to the next chapter." (among other, worse things) To that person, should they choose to read this, I would just like to say, I pity you.**

**That's all, so, on that note, Enjoy! And sorry for the long A/N!**

"When do I get to read?" asked Tonks.

"After Alice and Frank!" said Sirius.

"Urgh!"

"Ignore her, Alice. Go on," urged Sirius.

**Quidditch**

"YES!" roared Sirius, James and Frank.

"Must be his first match!" said James.

"Yup!"

"We should read outside It's so much more fun outside! And we're reading about Quidditch, so we should be outside!" said James. He looked pleadingly at Lily. She sighed and gave a little nod. They all got up and left the Room.

They walked outside and sat in the shade of their favourite tree, settling down.

"Go on, go on go on!" exclaimed James.

"Yeah! Harry's about to play in his first match!" said Sirius.

"Calm down, you two," said Remus. "Otherwise we'll never get through it!"

"Spoilsport!"

"Don't make me hex you!"

"Come on! We have a right to be excited!" said Sirius. "This is mini-Prongs we're reading about! _And_ he's going to play Quidditch. _And _he's the seeker! Come on Moony! Get excited!"

"Yay!" said Moody unenthusiastically.

"You're no fun, mate!" said Frank, laughing.

"What will it take to excite you?" demanded Sirius.

"Hey, we don't need to know that!" said Frank.

" I agree!" said James.

"Come on! That's not what I meant!" moaned Sirius.

"Whatever, O Gay one!" said James.

"Knock it off, Prongs," warned Sirius.

"What are you going to do?"

"Tickle you!"

"But you're as ticklish as me! And you're also afraid of heights. I have an advantage!"

"But I have the feather!" said Sirius. James lunged at him and grabbed the feather.

"And now you don't!"

"Hey!"

"Hah!"

"He has a point," said Remus. "But both of you can shut up. Let her read."

"Thank you, Remus. I always knew you were the only sensible one!"

"HEY!" cried Sirius and James.

"Actually, we're proud of being unsensible!" said Sirius.

"Yeah!" said James.

"It's insensible, dumbo!" said Alice.

"Whatever!"

**As they entered** **November, the weather turned very cold. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in **

**frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows, defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch pitch, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit-fur gloves and enormous beaver skin boots.**

"Hasn't changed much then, has he?"

**The Quidditch season had begun.**

They all (except Wormtail and Lily) cheered.

"Quidditch Is the best!"

"You said it, mate!"

"I know I did!"

"shut up!"

**On Saturday, Harry would be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin.**

"Ah, the best team to beat!" said James happily, twirling the feather around.

**If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship.**

"Well, of course they'll win!" said Sirius.

"How are you so sure?" asked Tonks.

"Simple. Harry's on the team!" James answered for him.

**Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret.**

"Nice."

**But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn't know which was worse - people telling him he'd be brilliant or people telling him they'd be running around underneath him, holding a mattress.**

"How is being told you are brilliant bad?" asked Peter.

"He's _nervous,_ Peter!" snapped Lily.

"Snappy, are we Lily?" said Sirius.

"Shut up before I make you!"

"Right. Shutting up."

**It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend.**

"Who would've thought, eh?" said James.

**He didn't know how he'd have got through all his homework without her, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do.**

"Just like his father, then!" said Frank.

"Exactly like his father! Roger drove us crazy with all the bloody practicing! Every damn night, right?" said James.

"Yeah."

"Doubt Ludo'll be like that. He used to hate practices as much as the rest of us!" Frank said happily.

"And thank Merlin for that!" said Alice.

**She had also leant him Quidditch Through the Ages, which turned out to be a very interesting read.**

"It is."

**Harry learnt that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them happened during a World Cup match in 1473;**

"Yeah. That would've been an awesome match to watch!" sighed James.

"If only!" said Frank.

"Yeah, if only!"

**that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players**

"Usually, but that's definitely not Ludo!"

"Not at all!"

**and that most serious Quidditch accident seemed to happen to them;**

"Yeah. I swear, if Ludo goes on to play for England like he wants to, he's going to get his nose broken. Honestly!"

**that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert**.

"That was once!" Alice said

"Twice" Sirius said

"Fine…That was twice!" She said

"Still … twice is enough!"

"Why take it out on the ref?" asked Wormtail.

"Because, o dull one, they make the decisions of fouls!"

"And other stuff."

"You know, I think the Slytherin team did that once, back in first year. Not in the Sahara, but, you know, somewhere in the mountains just off of Hogsmeade," said James.

"Yeah, right after we beat them 300-20!"

"Man, that was the best match _ever!"_ said James.

"Yeah, I must've hit all of their players, like twice each!" said Sirius.

"Yeah. That was –"

"If you three are done with your Quidditch talk, can we get back to the book?" said Lily.

"actually, we are not done, so if you odn't mind –"

"Sirius!"

"Just kidding, Lily!"

**Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll and she was much nicer for it.**

"I'll bet!" said Sirius.

"How much?"

"Shut up, Prongs."

"You've got a problem, Prongs. A real problem!"

**The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the three of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break,** **and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire which could be carried around in a jam jar. **

"That isn't first year magic!" Lily said surprised.

"I know! We can't even do that!" said James.

"Well, there's a lot of things you can't do, that you should be able to," said Alice.

"Like what?"

"Like sitting still for more than three seconds," said Alice

"Disillusionment charms," Lily added.

"Can't do the Augmenti charm either!" said Tonks, who remembered when James had pretended to faint.

"Can't do wordless spells!" Alice smirked.

"I can! That's only Sirius!"

"And Wormtail!" Sirius said indignantly.

"Leave me out of this!"

"You can't –" began Alice.

"You know what? I'm getting tired of hearing what we _can't_ do. Let's say some of the things _we _can do that _they_ can't do!" said Sirius angrily.

"Is there even anything?" scoffed Lily.

"Hmm … let's see!" said Sirius, looking at James.

"We can turn into animals. Can you?" asked James.

"No," mumbled Alice.

"We made this map," said Sirius, showing off the Marauders' Map, which he kept in his pocket. "Can you make a map like this?"

"Cool! How'd you guys do that?"asked Alice.

"We're Marauders. It's like our job to do that. And can you enter and exit Hogwarts without being noticed?"

"No, but –"

"didn't think so!" Sirius interrupted.

"And we can keep Remus company when … erm, nevermind!" said James quickly, glancing at Alice, Frank and Tonks in turn.

"Oh, we know that Remus is a w-" began Alice.

'NOO!" yelled Sirius.

"What?" asked Alice, shocked. Sirius nudged his head towards Tonks.

"What is it?" she whined, wanting to know. "What's wrong with Remus?"

"Nothing!"

"Liars! I'm not stupid!"

"Back to the book!" James said loudly, over Tonks.

**They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard.** **Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping.** **Harry, Ron and Hermione moved closer to block the fire from view, they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye.** **He limped over.** **He hadn't seen the fire, but seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.**

"Snape's a git!"

"He's a snake!"

"Grease-ball!"

"Flobberworm!"

"Impudent shrew!" said Sirius.

"Sirius!" gasped Lily.

"Fine, I take that last one back. He might not be a shrew." Lily looked at him reprovingly.

It was the mention of his name that had drawn Severus to the two boys that he hated more than anyone else in the world. When he walked over, he saw to his horror that Lily was sitting with them. He sighed and was about to walk away when he heard an odd comment.

"Well, He's being really mean to my son for no damn reason!" snapped Potter.

Severus raised his eyebrows and edged closer, making sure that they couldn't see him, but that he could see and hear them. Good Lord, were they _reading_? That was as hard to believe as Potter having a son.

**"What's that you've got there, Potter?"** **It was Quidditch Through the Ages. Harry showed him.**

**"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape.**

Severus raised his eyebrows even further. Was that supposed to be him? But … he didn't recall ever saying anything like that to Potter.

**"Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."**

Five points? Did that mean he was a teacher? Thought Severus as he heard Lily say indignantly, "That's not even a rule!"

**"He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away.**

Why am I limping? Severus thought. Or is it some other Snape? No, that's impossible. My Muggle father's relatives in our World? No way!

**"Wonder what's wrong with his leg?" **

"Who cares?" he heard Black saying."Hope it's really hurting him."

**"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly. **

"See? Ron agrees!"

Severus was happy to see Lily glare at him angrily.

**The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat together next to a window.**

Severus contemplated walking up to them and asking to read with them. _No, that's just mad! I would never do anything with them!_ He thought, and yet he really wanted to read that strange book, and his place behind this bush was very uncomfortable.

**Hermione was checking Harry and Ron's Charms homework for them. She would never let them copy (How will you learn?), but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.**

"Now that sounds familiar" James laughed.

"Well, I don't change your answers. I tell you they're wrong, and you keep guessing until you hit the right answer," said Remus. "alright it's pretty much the same thing," he conceded.

**Harry felt restless. He wanted Quidditch Through the Ages back, to take his mind off his nerves about tomorrow.** **Why should he be afraid of Snape?**

"There's about a million reasons, Harry!" said James.

Severus looked angrily at Potter.

**Getting up, he told Ron and Hermione he was going to ask Snape if he could have it. **

"Good luck" James said

"You'll need it" Sirius agreed

Severus was insulted. He was not a mean person. He would not deny a child his book for no reason. But, apparently this boy was Potter's son, and Severus was a teacher, so it must be from the future or something, and who knows how he would be then.

**"Rather you than me," they said together, but Harry had an idea that Snape wouldn't refuse if there were other teachers listening. **

"He'll still refuse" Alice said bluntly

Severus frowned.

"Hey, you know, it might be a good idea to let Severus join us," said Lily. Severus smiled, and almost left his hiding place when -

'WHAT?" the rest of them yelled.

"Well, think about it; this way he'll know how he is, and maybe he'll change, and be nicer to my son," said Lily. Severus stared at her. _Her _son, she had said. But that meant that Potter… no. It couldn't be! Maybe the other one is her son. Because she _can't _have had a child with _Potter!_

"I doubt that'll make a difference!" snorted Sirius.

"I think he should be here. He's not as bad as you guys make him out to be!"

"Lily, I love you and everything," said Potter, and Severus winced, "but Snivellus ," Severus winced again, "just wouldn't … he's too … let's just say he wouldn't be welcome here!" said James finally.

"Understatement, but yeah!" said Sirius.

Severus fumed.

"If you say so. I just think that it would be a good idea."

"Well, if he comes around and asks nicely, maybe we might let him read with us," said James skeptically.

The boys laughed.

**He made his way down to the staff room and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. Nothing.** **Perhaps Snape had left the book in there?** **It was worth a try. He pushed the door ajar and peered inside - and a horrible scene met his eyes.**

"What? Was Snape actually happy? Smiling? Ungreasy?" suggested Sirius.

"Shut up, Sirius!" said Lily.

**Snape and Filch were inside, alone.**

They all flinched

"Urgh!"

"We did not need to know that!" said Sirius, disgusted.

"What, aren't you turned on?" snorted James, laughing. Sirius fumed.

"STOP IT! I AM NOT GAY, AND IF I WAS, I WOULD NOT BE WITH THE LIKES OF SEVERUS SNAPE!" he yelled at the top of his voice. Several people in the grounds stared at Sirius. He groaned.

Severus thought he might want to come out of his hiding place, so he walked around them and approached from a different position, as if he hadn't been eavesdropping.

"What did you say, Black?"he spat. All of the boys glared at him.

"None of your business, Snivellus!" Sirius spat back.

"Well, apparently it has a lot to do with me, actually. And, for your information, I would never be caught dead with the likes of you either!"

"Watch it, grease-ball!"

"That tired old line again? Can't your little brains think of any new insults? No? Too tired from the strenuous activity of reading? I guess your brain isn't used to being used this much, is it, Potter, and Black?"

Lily almost let out a laugh, but had to contain it.

"So how is it that you are reading, anyway?" he asked more politely, because he actually _did_ want to read with them, despite how much he hated them. It didn't seem like they would let him, though.

"Nothing to do with you either, Snape!"

"Actually, it is," said Lily. James and Sirius glared at her.

"What?" she said. "Look, if he wants to know, he has a right to!"

"no, he doesn't! It's our book! We found it!"

"Actually, James, I am the one who found it. And I don't mind Severus reading with us." James looked at Lily oddly, then he forced himself to look at Snape.

"Do you want to read with us?" he asked robotically, hoping Snape said no.

"What is it?" asked Severus, trying not to show how interested he was.

"It's a book, genius!" said Sirius, despite the looks Lily was giving him.

"Yes, I can see that, Black, but what book?"

"Look for yourself," said Alice, tossing him the book.

"Harry Potter? Who's he?" he asked James, though he already knew the answer.

"My son."

"Don't be daft, Potter."

"I'm not! This book's from the future!" he said quietly, so no one else would hear. Severus stared at him.

"If you don't believe me, look at the copyright!" said James.

Severus did so, and gasped. "1997? How did you find this?"

"Actually, that's a good question," said Sirius slowly. "You never told us how you found it, Lily."

"I don't know. I was in the divination section looking something up for Marlene, and the book was just … there," she shrugged.

"Strange," said Severus, taking a seat slightly farther away from the rest of them. "I will read with you, actually."

"Whatever," said James, trying to sound indifferent.

"so, how much have I missed?" asked Severus. They explained again. When they got to the part about Neville being Frank and Alice's son, Snape turned to look at them, and said in a quiet voice, "congratualtions."

"But he doesn't live with them. Lives with his gran," said Sirius.

"What?" yelled Frank. "You didn't tell us that!"

"Didn't we? Sorry!"

"Idiot!"

Severus couldn't help but grin.

"Oh look, he can smile!" said Sirius, though not unkindly as he would have done, but more jokily, like he did with James and Remus and the others. Severus smiled a bit more.

They continued to explain the rest of the book so far, and then let Alice continue.

**Snape was holding his robes above his knees.**

They all turned to look at Severus.

"I'm not gay! Honest!" he said defensively.

"Sure. We'll be the judges of that!" said James.

"Well, in that case, Black is gay too!" said Severus.

"Oh, we know that already. You heard him shout it out, right?"

"Shut up, Prongs! I am not gay!"

"And neither am I!" added Severus.

**One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.**

"See!" said Severus, relieved.

**"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"**

"Why were you trying to get past that dog?" James asked him.

"How should I know?"

"Because it's you!"

"Well, I haven't done it yet, have i?"

"So?"

"So … I don't even know what it's guarding,

'The Philosopher's Stone."

"Still … how should I know why I tried to get past!"

"But you're admitting you did it?"

"No! I don't know! Argh!"

"But how is it that you - "

"This could go on for a while. Just stop it and let Alice read," sighed Lily. Severus and James looked at each other then went silent.

**Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but – **

"I hate 'buts'" Alice groaned.

"Why?" asked SIrius. "Mine is pretty cute."

"Urgh. Sirius!" yelled James.

"What?"

"Don't be disgusting!"

**"POTTER!" **

Severus looked apologetically at the rest. "Sorry I busted Harry."

**Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped.** **"I just wondered if I could have my book back."**

"That's just going to piss me off more," sighed Severus.

**"GET OUT! OUT!" **

"Stupid git" Sirius muttered

"Hey! I heard that!"

"It was easier to insult you when you weren't here," Sirius sighed. Severus grinned a bit.

**Harry left, before Snape could take anymore points from Gryffindor. He sprinted back upstairs.**

**"Did you get it?" Ron asked as Harry joined them. "What's the matter?" **

"No. he saw a much worse sight."

"He's going to think I tried to get past it for some evil reason. Just you wait!" said Sirius.

**In a low whisper, Harry told them what he'd seen. "You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him - he's after whatever it's guarding!**

Severus sighed. "I knew it. Jumping to conclusions!"

"Well, how do you know you didn't try to get past it to get the Philosopher's Stone?"

"I just do! I wouldn't do that!"

"He wouldn't," said Lily.

**And I'd bet my broomstick he let that troll in, to create a diversion!" **

"Good thinking" Sirius commented

"It wasn't me!" he grumbled.

"We'll see, Snape, we'll see!"

**Hermione's eyes were wide. "No - he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, **

"Understatement of the year" James snorted

"Come on!" said Severus indignantly.

"Sorry. Couldn't help myself," said James.

"Yeah, right!"

**but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."**

"Exactly!"

"Yeah, and you wouldn't be stupid enough to do it with Dumbledore right there," said Alice.

"Thank you!" said Severus.

**"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snapped Ron. **

"They're not"

**"I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape.**

"Thanks a lot."

**But what's he after? What's the dog guarding?" **

"The philosophers stone," Peter said.

"We know, Peter"

"And I'm not after it!" said Snape indignantly.

"Yes, we know that too, Sev," said Lily, rolling her eyes.

**Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with the same question. Neville was snoring loudly,**

"Takes after Alice then," said Sirius.

"OI! I do not snore!"

"Just kidding!" cried Sirius as she pointed her wand at him.

"wow, you sure are scared of her, Black," said Severus.

"You would be too!" he cried. "She tortures me!"

"Don't be so dramatic!" said Alice. "I'm only tickling him! Or throwing him up into the air," said added innocently.

"Yeah, I saw him go up before lunch," said Severus. "Are you ticklish, Black?"

"Am not!"

"Don't lie to Severus!" said James cheekily. Severus' eyes widened when he heard Potter – no James – say his name properly for what must have been the first time.

"He's actually dead ticklish, and afraid of heights!" James finished happily. Severus smirked.

"Would've been useful if I knew that when you guys cornered me," said Severus. James was about to say something back, but he bit his tongue and let Alice continue.

**but Harry couldn't sleep. He tried to empty his mind - he needed to sleep, he had to, he had his first Quidditch match in a few hours - but the expression on Snape's face when Harry had seen his leg wasn't easy to forget.**

"Hey!" said Severus.

**The next morning dawned very bright and cold.** **The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.**

**"You've got to eat some breakfast."**

"You really do," said James.

**"I don't want anything."**

**"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.**

"Come on, Harry! Eat something!"

**"I'm not hungry."** **Harry felt terrible. **

"Reminds me of someone else before his first Quidditch game," Remus said pointedly looking at James. James grinned and said, "So were you! I got on the team before you though! Hah!"

"Shut up!"

"I did! I was the first here to get on the team! Well, me and Sirius got on the team second year, but the rest of you didn't make it 'till third, or fourth for Moony!"

"Shut up, Prongs!"

**In a few hours' time he'd be walking on to the Quidditch pitch. **

"And he'll win!" Sirius cried

**"Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get nobbled by the other team." **

"Thanks, that's just what he needed to hear!" Alice said sarcastically

**"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.**

**By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes. **

"Yeah. Binoculars are a smart choice."

**Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row. As a surprise for Harry, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined.**

The marauders looked at Peter

"What?" He said "It isn't me!"

Severus looked at them curiously. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing!" James said quickly.

**It said Potter for President**

"President? He's not going for President!"

"Obviously, Black!" said Severus.

**and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colours. **

"That's nice of them" Lily said happily

**Meanwhile, in the changing rooms, Harry and the rest of the team were changing into their scarlet Quidditch robes (Slytherin would be playing in green)**

"don't like green," said Sirius.

"I don't either, actually," said Snape.

"So you mean you don't like Slytherin?"

"No, I just don't like the colour."

"Yeah. But as head of the house you'd think you would like their colour!"

"I'm head of Slytherin?" asked Severus excitedly.

"Oh, I guess we forgot to tell you. Yes, you are."

"Wow."

**Wood cleared his throat for silence. **

**"OK, men," he said.**

"And women!" said Lily.

"How d'you know there are girls on the team?" asked Sirius.

"There'd better be!"

"Yeah!" Alice agreed.

**"And women," said Chaser Angelina Johnson.**

The girls grinned.

**"And women," Wood agreed. "This is it."**

**"The big one," said Fred Weasley.**

**"The one we've all been waiting for," said George.**

"Have they memorized his speech?"

"Must have. We did that to Roger once. You'd think he would be happy that we were just listening!" said James.

**"we know Oliver's speech by heart," Fred told Harry. "We were in the team last year." **

They snorted

**"Shut up, you two," said Wood. "This is the best team Gryffindor's had in years. We're going to win. I know it."**

Severus shrugged. "Not really that into Quidditch. Don't mind if Gryffindor win."

"Good, 'cause they will!"

**He glared at them as if to say, "Or else."**

"That's what Roger would do!" said Frank.

"I thought he would kill me when I missed that goal!" joked James.

They all laughed (Yes, even Severus).

**"Right. It's time. Good luck, all of you."**

**Harry followed Fred and George out of the changing room and, hoping his knees weren't going to give way, walked on to the pitch to loud cheers.** **Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the pitch, waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand. **

**"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. Harry noticed that she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin captain, Marcus Flint, a fifth-year. Harry thought Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him. **

"You know, they might," said Severus.

"Really?" asked James, interested.

"Their family is weird. And the lot of them smell horrid," said Severus.

They laughed some more.

"you know, you aren't that bad after all, Sev," said Sirius. Severus grinned. "Wish I could say the same for you," he joked. They laughed.

**Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fluttering banner high above, flashing Potter for President over the crowd. His heart skipped. He felt braver.** **"Mount your brooms, please." **

**Harry clambered on to his Nimbus Two Thousand.**

"Wow, sounds like a good broom," said Severus. "Nimbuses are supposed to be the best, right?"

"Right you are, Sev. Who knew you knew anything about brooms!" said Sirius.

**Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle. Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.**

"wooohooo!" yelled James. "And they're off!"

**"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor -** **what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too –"**

They all laughed.

"That's not gonna sit too well with McGonagall!" Sirius said.

"Not at all," agreed James.

**" JORDAN!"**

**"Sorry, Professor."**

"See?"

**The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match,**

"that would explain it," said Sirius, grinning. "And wasn't he the one with the giant spider or something?"

"Yeah."

**closely watched by Professor McGonagall. **

**"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve - back to Johnson and - no, Slytherin have taken the Quaffle,**

"Argh! No!" cried James, sitting on edge.

Sirius was bouncing up and down.

**Slytherin captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes - Flint flying like an eagle up there - he's going to sc - no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood**

"Yes!" cried James and Sirius.

**and Gryffindor take the Quaffle -** **that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and – OUCH - **

"nooooo!"

**that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger -** **Quaffle taken by Slytherin –**

"No!" moaned Sirius.

**that's Adrian Pucey speeding off towards the goalposts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger -** **sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which –**

They grinned.

"Sounds like they're as good as me!" said Sirius happily.

**nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes - she's really flying -** **dodges a speeding Bludger –**

"Yes! Come on, Come on!"

**the goalposts are ahead - come on, now, Angelina - Keeper Bletchley dives - misses - GRYFFINDOR SCORE!"**

"YES!" roared Sirius, James, Remus, Frank and Alice. Lily even gave a small cheer, and even Severus managed to smile a bit, though he was in Slytherin.

"You know, Alice, the way you read that paragraph, I reckon you'd make a fair commentator if you weren't such a damn good Chaser," said Sirius unexpectedly.

Alice was apparently shocked at the compliment.

**Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins. **

**"Budge up there, move along."**

**"Hagrid!"** **Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid space to join them.**

**"Bin' watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars round his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sigh of the Snitch yet, eh?"**

**"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."**

"He will soon!" said James confidently.

**"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, **

"yup."

"Quidditch is such a violent game!" said Lily.

"But that's why it's fun!"Sirius exclaimed.

"Idiots!"

**raising his binoculars and peering skywards at the speck that was Harry.**

"Heh, your son is a speck, Prongs!" said Sirius.

**Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of his and Wood's game plan.**

**"Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said.**

"Good idea. Never occurred to Wood senior, did it?" said James.

"Nope. Ludo wouldn't have been in the Hospital wing nearly as much if it had."

"Maybe we should tell Ludo about it," Frank suggested.

"Nah, save it 'till I'm captain next year!" said James.

"And how do you that you'll be captain?" demanded Alice. "It could just as easily be me or Frank!"

"Or me!" said Remus, though he didn't really believe it.

"Or me!" said Sirius, though he didn't think he was up to the challenge. He just wanted to annoy James.

James sighed. "I'll admit that it could be Alice or Frank, but not you two. No offence!" he added quickly.

"Oh yeah, sure. Saying no offence makes it all right!" Sirius said, pretending to sound hurt.

"Well, Moony's only been on the team two years, and Beaters hardly _ever _get made Captain!" said James.

"Whatever," said Remus. "I'm not that interested anyway."

"Should I continue?"

"Go ahead."

**"We don't want you attacked before you have to be."**

"Actually, we don't want him to be attacked at all, thank you very much!" said Lily.

**When Angelina had scored, Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let out his feelings.**

James and Sirius grinned.

"Sirius tried that first time he played," said James, still grinning, though Sirius had stopped.

"And?"

"He –"

"Prongs, don't."

"He nearly fell off his broom! I had to fly up to him and keep him steady," said James, trying hard not to laugh. The others weren't trying at all. They burst out laughing. Sirius glared at him. "Lucky someone else had the Quaffle, and not me though!

"It's not _that_ funny!" he said moodily.

"Oh, but it is!" Remus assured him.

**Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch.** **Once he caught sight of a flash of gold **

James and Sirius gasped excitedly

**but it was just a reflection from one of the Weasley's wrist watches, **

They groaned

**and once a Bludger decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannon ball than anything, but Harry dodged it and Fred Weasley came chasing after it. **

"Hit it at Flint! Hit it at Flint!" Cried Sirius.

**"All right there, Harry?" he had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously towards Marcus Flint. **

"Yeah!"

**"Slytherin in possession," **

"Noooooo….."

**Lee Jordan was saying. "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys**

"Who are equivalent to bludgers," Sirius said.

**and Chaser Bell and speeds towards the - wait a moment - was that the Snitch?" **

"Go Harry Go!"

"Merlin, Potter, will you stop interrupting!" said Severus.

"Well, ex-cuuuse me for wanting to bring a little more enthusiasm into the reading!"

**A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle,**

"You never drop the Quaffle, Moron!" said James.

"Not like you haven't done it a fair share of times, Prongs!"

"Shut up, Sirius!"

"Make me!"

"Fine!"

"No! Don't Silence me! It's so tiring and annoying having to write!"

"Idiot."

"Hey!"

"Paddy!" warned James playfully.

"Fine!"

"Good. Now both of you shut up," said Lily.

**too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.**

Despite the warnings, Sirius couldn't help but start chanting.

"Go Harry Go! Go Harry Go! Go Harry Go!"

James joined in.

"How can you stand this?" asked Severus incredulously.

"With great self-control and an even greater talent in charms," said lily, Silencing them both in a way that only she could. This meant only she could free them.

'Not very nice!' wrote James.

'Nope, not nice at all!'

'come on, give us freedom of speech!'

"I think they're actually _worse _when they've been Silenced!" Severus said in amazement.

The others laughed. "This is actually not that bad for these two," said Alice.

"How did you put up with them for ten chapters?"

"I didn't. Me and Frank have only been here one chapter longer than you."

"And I came here somewhere around the fifth chapter," said Tonks.

"So you had to sit through four chapters with just them?"asked Severus incredulously.

"Unfortunately," sighed Lily.

"Unbelievable."

'you know, we arent that bad!' wrote Sirius.

'Actually, we are,' James wrote.

'Speak for yourself!'

'I'm not speaking at all, Padfoot!'

'Shut up!'

'But I'm not even talking!'

'Git!'

'Moron!'

'Flobberworm!'

'Mutt!'

'Deer!'

'Dursley!'

'You did not just call me a Dursley!'

'Oh yes I did! What're you gonna do about it?'

'This!' wrote Sirius, flicking his wand upwards, and James went flying into the air, suspended by his ankle. Severus, who had previously been laughing, now looked at Sirius somewhat angrily.

"Why must you always use that spell?" he sighed as James thrashed around, unable to speak for himself.

Sirius grinned. 'Because I know how much it bothers you!'

"That's not it! It's because that's the only one he can do without saying the words!" said Tonks.

'Merlin, you're a pain!' wrote Sirius.

Severus gaped. "You can't do wordless spell?"

'No! is that a problem?'

Severus grinned.

"Why does it bother you?" asked Tonks suddenly. James began waving his arms.

"What?"

"When he uses that spell … why does it bother you?"

"Oh. Because …" began Severus.

'he invented it' Sirius wrote.

"Really?"

"Yeah,"

"That's amazing!"

"It's not that big a deal," Severus said modestly. James stretched as far as he could and tried to hit Sirius on his head, but couldn't make it.

"It is, Sev!" said Lily happily.

Severus smiled a bit.

"Never mind that, get on with the book!" said Frank, getting bored.

"But, what about Potter? As much as I hate him, I don't want him to just _hang _there."

"Why not?" asked Tonks.

"Good point. Never mind then. Go on, erm … "

"Alice. Prewett?" she added to see if that jogged his memory.

"Oh. Yeah. Ok.

Alice shook her head.

**Harry saw it.**

James moaned silently. He was missing the best part! Well, he couldn't enjoy it properly.

**In a great rush of excitement he dived downwards after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too.**

Sirius groaned equally silently. 'come on Harry!'

"Stop it, Sirius!" said Lily angrily.

'why?'

"Sirius!" Lily said warningly.

'Right, right. Shutting up.'

"Good."

**Neck and neck they hurtled towards the Snitch –**

James thrashed around some more.

"Just let him down, Black," Severus sighed. Sirius shook his head.

Severus shook his own head, and flicked his wand. Next second, James was lying in a heap on the ground.

Sirius looked angrily at Severus.

"well, I _obviously _know the counter-curse!" Severus said, rolling his eyes.

James nodded his head appreciatively at Severus, then glared at Sirius.

"Leave it, James," said Lily. "It'll take too long if you do that." James looked pleadingly at Lily.

"No, James. Just sit down, and maybe I'll lift the silencing charm!"

James sat down beside her immediately.

"Good."

"Thanks, Lily!" James said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Severus looked at him enviously, though no one noticed.

'What about me?'

"You can stay Silent!" said James, summoning Sirius' wand. Sirius glared at him.

**all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing**

James snorted.

**as they hung in mid-air to watch.** **Harry was faster than Higgs -** **he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead - he put on an extra spurt of speed – **

"GO HARRY!" James cried

**WHAM!**

"NO!" yelled James. "Not a bludger!"

**A roar of rage from the Gryffindors below - Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose and Harry's broom span off course, Harry holding on for dear life.**

"Why that bloody, slimy son of a –"

"James!"

"What? He's just fouled my son!"

"Calm down, Prongs!" said Remus. "You too, Padfoot," he added to Sirius, who had jumped up in rage, even though he couldn't express himself with words.

**"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.**

**Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goalposts for Gryffindor. **

"Good!"

**But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.**

"aww! He was about to get it!" moaned James.

**Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"**

"What's a red card?" James asked. Sirius' eyes gleamed as he opened his mouth to answer, momentarily forgetting that he couldn't speak.

Lily rolled her eyes and took off the charm.

"Yay! Red cards are given to players who seriously foul someone. Like, break someone's leg on purpose, foul, or kick someone on purpose. They don't get to play the rest of the match, _or _the next match!"

"Wow. Sounds harsh," said Frank.

"It is!"

"Bloody good thing they don't have that in Quidditch, or me and Paddy would never be able to play two matches in a row!" said James.

They laughed.

**"This isn't football, Dean," Ron reminded him. "You can't send people off in Quidditch -** **and what's a red card?"**

**But Hagrid was on Dean's side. "They ought to change the rules, Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."**

"Exactly!" said James and Sirius, glad someone agreed with them.

**Lee Jordan was finding it hard not to take sides.**

They grinned.

"I know Wormy used to take sides when he was commentating!" said Sirius. "Course had to stop when McGonagall told him he had been keeping score wrongly."

Peter flushed. "um … I'm going to the bathroom."

"What? It's the best part!" James cried.

"I'll be quick, and I can catch up." He ran off towards the castle.

Lily relaxed a bit more.

"Quick, Let's move, while he's gone!" Alice shrieked. Lily's eyes widened.

"Yeah!" Lily said.

"What? We can't do that to Pete!" said Remus.

"Hmm … well, it's not like we haven't done it before," said Sirius reasonably.

"Yeah. We did it that time in Hogsmeade, when he wouldn't stop staring at the sweets in Honeydukes."

"And when we snuck out that time, we left him back at the castle because he kept fussing."

"I guess you're right," said Remus.

"Yeah. Let's go!" said Alice. Lily, Tonks, Severus and Frank looked downright relieved to be leaving Peter behind. James and Sirius didn't think much about it. Remus alone was somewhat hesitant, but agreed.

They move further away, just out of sight of the entrance to the castle.

"Knowing Wormtail, he'll just think he's forgotten where we were," said Sirius.

"Yeah."

"Alright. Back to the book," said Sirius.

**Lee Jordan was finding it hard not to take sides. "So - after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating."**

The boys laughed.

"It was!"

**" Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.**

"Oh, Minnie, let the boy express himself!" said Sirius.

**"I mean, after that open and revolting foul -"**

"I can see why the twins like this guy," said Sirius.

"No, they don't like him, Sirius. Not everyone is gay!" James teased.

"PRONGS!"

"Yes Paddy?" he asked innocently.

"SHUT UP!"

"But why, Paddy? I'm having so much fun!"

"Just shut up, James," sighed Lily, rolling her eyes.

"Fine. Shutting up. But only for you, Lily flower!" he added, looking at Sirius.

Severus looked at James in an odd way.

"You okay, Snape?"

"Um … yeah. I'm fine, Potter."

**" Jordan, I'm warning you -"**

**"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, **

"Yeah, right! Only Slytherins do that!" James cried.

"Yeah, and mostly to Gryffindors!" added Sirius.

**so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."**

"Good."

"Yeah, but now the snitch's gone!"

**It was as Harry dodged another Bludger which went spinning dangerously past his head that it happened. **

"Oh no" Lily said

**His broom gave a sudden, frightening lurch. **

"Merlin! Someone's messing with his broom!" James cried angrily, jumping up.

**For a split second, he thought he was going to fall.**

"NOO!"

**He gripped the broom tightly with both his hands and knees. He'd never felt anything like that. It happened again.**

"Who is it? I'll kill the git who's doing it!"

**It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off. **

"Someone's jinxing it!" James was jumping up and down on his feet.

**But Nimbus Two Thousands did not suddenly decide to buck their riders off.**

"No, they don't! Some git is trying to kill you!" James yelled angrily.

"Prongs, calm down!" said Remus.

"I can't!" he screamed. "Someone's bloody well trying to kill my son, and you want me to _calm down?"_

Remus sighed. "I really don't want to have to silence you, Prongs!"

James gave him a dirty look and sat back down.

**Harry tried to turn back towards the Gryffindor goalposts; he had half a mind to ask Wood to call time out –**

"Yes! Do that!" cried Lily hysterically. James was so shocked he momentarily forgot to be mad. "You're usually the calm one," he said with a smirk.

"SO? He could die!"

James grinned. "He isn't going to die."

"How d'you know?" asked Lily. James' grinned broadened even more, if that was possible.

"Because, there's still like a quarter or something of the book left!"

Lily looked at him angrily and shut up.

James grinned some more. "And you thought I was an idiot for not noticing half the book was left!"

"Shut up Jamie," she said threateningly.

"Don't call me – Never mind!" he said hastily at the look she gave him.

**and then he realized that the broom was completely out of his control.**

"NO!" they all yelled.

**He couldn't turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zig-zagging through the air and every now and then making violent swishing movements which almost unseated him. **

They were all looking nervous now. James looked as though his head was about to explode, and Lily was turning paler and paler.

**Lee was still commentating. "Slytherin in possession -** **Flint with the Quaffle –**

"Forget that, look at Harry!" James yelled.

**passes Spinnet - passes Bell - hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose –**

James and Sirius snorted appreciatively at the joke, but were still anxious, though some of the tension was relieved.

**only joking, Professor –**

**Slytherin score - oh no..."**

Sirius booed, but James yelled, "FORGET THAT, LOOK AT MY SON, DAMN IT!"

**The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely.**

"Come on!"

**It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went. **

"Somebody had better notice soon!" Lily snapped

**"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled.**

"He can't control it!"

**He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom ... but he can't have ..." **

"But he has" James said "So do something!"

**Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands. His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on.** **Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand. **

"But he can't die!" shrieked Lily. "The book isn't finished yet! _You told me he wouldn't die!"_ she added to James. He looked positively frightened by her.

"Could be his ghost for the rest of the book," said Sirius, attempting a joke.

"Don't!" yelled Lily. Sirius shuddered and shared a look with James.

"It's okay guys," Remus said calmingly "Dumbledore won't let him die."

James and Lily relaxed.

"Yeah, Dumbledore – Dumbledore's there. He wouldn't just let him fall and … you know. He just wouldn't," James said reassuringly.

"Exactly. No need to be so overprotective!" said Sirius, again attempting a joke, and failing yet again.

"_Overprotective?_ He could die, hanging there God knows how high, so wouldn't you be worried? Even if you aren't his father! You're his Godfather!" said Lily angrily.

"Merlin, I was only joking!"

"Well, don't."

"At least not when she's this worked up," James added so only Sirius would hear.

**"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.**

"That filthy little son of a-"

"Sirius!"

"I'll bet it was him!" Sirius finished with a snarl.

"Doubt it," said Alice.

"Why?"

"Because. How is he supposed to have learned that spell? It's really advanced. And he's what, a fifth year? No way!"

"She has a point," said Tonks.

"Yeah," Frank agreed.

**"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark Magic - no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."**

"See?"

Severus whitened a bit.

**At these words, Hermione seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.**

"What is she doing?" asked Sirius.

**"What are you doing?" moaned Ron,**

Sirius managed a small grin.

**grey-faced.**

**"I knew it," Hermione gasped. "Snape - look."**

Severus looked aghast. "No way!" he said loudly.

"You'd better not be messing with Harry's broom!" James said angrily. "Because I'll murder you, no matter _what _Lily says!"

"No! I wouldn't do that! No to Lil – not to a kid!" he changed tracks hastily. James didn't stop to think about what Severus had nearly said.

"It'd better not be you!"

"Is that a threat?"

"So what if it is?"

"Don't, Potter!"

"I can if I want to, Snivellus!"

Severus glared angrily at James. Just when they had finally been getting along, Lily thought with a sigh

"Stop it!" she yelled.

**Ron grabbed the binoculars. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering non-stop under his breath.**

"Snape, you better wish it's not you!"

"It isn't! Honest! I would never!"

**"He's doing something - jinxing the broom," said Hermione.**

**"What should we do?"  
**  
**"Leave it to me."**

"What's she going to do?"

**Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared. Ron turned his binoculars back on Harry. His broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer.**

"Oh, Merlin!"

**The whole crowd were on their feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely on to one of their brooms, **

"Good" Lily muttered

"Yeah, get him off that thing!"

**but it was no good - every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still.**

"Argh!"

**They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell.**

"Don't think that!"

**Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing. **

"Cheater!" Sirius called

"So what? they won't count."

**"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately.**

**Hermione fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front.**

Alice paused and narrowed her eyes, as did Remus.

"What is it?" James asked.

"Why would they mention that, d'you think?" Remus said slowly.

"Uh, because she knocked him over?" James said.

"Hmm."

"Hmm what?"

"I just think … never mind. We'll see."

James looked at him for a bit, shared a curios look with Frank and Sirius, then shrugged.

"Whatever, go on, Alice," said Tonks.

**Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand and whispered a few, well chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand on to the hem of Snape's robes.**

James Sirius, Frank, Alice and Tonks grinned. Lily and Remus looked somewhat shocked, and Severus looked absolutely furious.

"She set me _on fire? I _am on _fire!"_ He kept repeating himself.

"Easy, Snape. She can scoop the fires into a jar," said James.

**It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realize that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket**

"Good." Snape said.

**she scrambled back along the row - Snape would never know what had happened. **

"That's brilliant!" Sirius cried happily

"It was quite brilliant," Severus agreed hesitantly.

**It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom. **

They all cheered

**"Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes.**

"Aww, he's so sweet" Alice said happily

Frank shook his head slightly.

**Harry was speeding towards the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick**

"What? James said, concerned.

"Well, I reckon you'd be sick too if you'd been thrown around like that!" said Lily.

**he hit the pitch on all fours - coughed - and something gold fell into his hand.**

"He caught the snitch in his mouth?" James said incredulously.

That, or he ate something gold that just came out the wrong end," joked Sirius.

"Sirius!" Lily said reprovingly.

"but Merlin, that's never been done before!" Sirius said.

"Yeah."

**"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head, and the game ended in complete confusion. **

"I love it when that happens" James said grinning

"When has that ever happened?" asked Frank.

"I don't know. But it would be great if it did."

"Yeah."

**"He didn't catch it, he nearly swallowed it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later,**

"Sore loser!" Tonks said.

"He didn't break any rules!" James said.

**but it made no difference - Harry hadn't broken any rules**

"See?"

**and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the result - Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. **

They all cheered

**Harry heard none of this, though.** **He was being made a strong cup of tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Ron and Hermione.**

**"It was Snape," Ron was explaining. **

"It wasn't!" Severus moaned as several glares came his way.

**"Hermione and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you." **

"Git" Sirius muttered.

"I'm _right here, _you know!" Severus said indignantly.

**"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?" **

"Because he's a greasy git" Sirius said as though it was the most obvious thing in the world

"You're one to talk! You gay, um … moron!"

"I AM NOT GAY!" Sirius thundered.

"Wow. Just relax. I was only joking!" Severus said quietly.

**Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the truth. "I found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."**

Severus looked at the book sourly.

**Hagrid dropped the teapot.** **"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said. **

"_Fluffy?"_ Lily said incredulously

"He calls a coward of a dog Fang, and a bloody vicious, gigantic three-headed dog _Fluffy_?"

**"Fluffy?"**

**"Yeah - he's mine - bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year - I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the -"**

**"Yes?" said Harry eagerly. **

"I love Hagrid, he always let's things slip," Sirius grinned

"Wow, you move quickly," James said.

"What?" Sirius asked.

"Well, first those twins, then Peeves, then Lee Jordan, and now _Hagrid?"_ James said, bursting with laughter.

Sirius fumed. "Enough," he said in a quiet, dangerous voice.

**"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."**

**"But Snape's trying to steal it."**

"I am not!"

**"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."**

"Thank you!"

**"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione.**

"I _didn't!"_

"God, you interrupt almost as much as we do!" said Sirius jokingly.

**The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape. **

**"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them!**

"Of _course _she has!" said Sirius.

**you've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"**

Severus looked slightly confused.

"She's got you there. So why _were _you keeping eye contact then?" James questioned him. Severus thought about it a bit. "Maybe I was trying to _save _him from falling!"

"Hah!"

"I could have been! You never know!"

**"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh - yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog,** **an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel -" **

"Yes! Now they can just research Flamel and find out what it is," James crowed

"Hopefully" Lily added.

"So, was he the one that made the Stone or something?" asked Tonks.

"Must be," said Alice.

"**Aha!" said Harry. "So there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"**

**Hagrid looked furious with himself. **

"Oh Hagrid! You and your big mouth are so great!" Sirius grinned.

James opened his mouth excitedly to make a gay comment, but Sirius, sensing what was coming, quickly Silenced him with a whispered "_Silencio!"_

James glared at him.

"Well, chapter's finished," Alice announced.

"Good. My turn then," said Frank happily, taking the book from her.

"And I'm next!" Tonks said.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll see," said Sirius.

"I'm next!" she said more forcefully.

"Yeah, fine!"

**A/N: Well, I didn't have much time over the past few days, but voila! Hope you liked it! By popular demand, I thought I had to add Snape. Hope you guys don't mind. And, also by somewhat popular demand, I have (at least temporarily) removed Peter.**

**Tell me what you think, R-E-V-I-E-W!**


	13. Wonderful, Glorious Snow

**A/N: Thanks to all my wonderful reviewers! And thanks to Lily-Nix, bookwormluver3, ricekrispies, chocolaterox92, CSISnape, HPfan626andfuturewriter, Goldenfeather, mari91, sillysophielovesharry, Mondler4eva, RTonks, rosegraceblack, 08BeautifulDreamer09, SwarmofFanGirls, niftyyx3, Miss Raella Morgan and ejm12 for adding me to their Faves/Alerts! It means a lot! The next chapter will be up soooon!"**

**Enjoy!**

**The Mirror of Erised**

"Erised? What in the name of Merlin's beard is that?" asked James.

"Dunno."

"Wait, let me take a look at that," said Remus, taking the book from Frank.

"Erised … Erised … E-R-I-S-E-D … Got it! D-E-S-I-R-E! It's desire backwards!"

"Wow. I would never have thought of that," said Sirius.

"I wouldn't have expected you to," Remus smirked.

"I would've been plain shocked," James nodded.

"Flabbergasted," Franks added.

"stunned."

"Taken aback."

"Taken aback?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah, taken aback," Frank repeated.

"Okay. Astounded," James said.

"Ooh, good one!" said Alice.

"Thanks."

"How's this; thunderstruck!" Tonks said.

"Niice!" James grinned.

"Hey!" Sirius yelled angrily.

They grinned.

"So it's the Mirror of Desire?" Tonks asked.

"I guess so."

**Christmas was coming.**

"Woohooo Christmas!" James yelled happily.

"Joy to the World!" Sirius yelled loudly.

"Sirius! It's nowhere near Christmas here, so it's weird if you're just shouting about it randomly!" said Lily, looking around. Luckily, they were in a place with few other students, as they had hidden from Peter.

"So? I want to sing! Come on, let's all sing!"

"Uh … _no."_

"Spoilsports! Where's your Christmas spirit?"

"It's sleeping, waiting for the next two months to pass till Christmas!" James replied. "In case you've forgotten, it's only the beginning of October!"

"Well, wake it up, and let's sing!"

They all took turns to say:

"No."

"No."

"No."

"No."

"No."

"No."

"NO!"

"You guys are no fun!" he sulked.

**One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow.**

"Yay! Snow is fun!" said Sirius. "Man, that snowball fight last year was amazing. My clothes were soaked, I was freezing my ass off, and Prongs couldn't see out of one eye!" He finished, laughing.

"Yeah. That was fun. Poor Wormy. He got hit the most by far."

"Yeah, but he's like a sitting target. Barely even moves!"

"True. You'd think his feet were rooted to the ground or something."

"Hey, I just had a brilliant idea!" Sirius cried.

"Uh oh. His ideas are never good."

"Well, this one is! Let's have a snowball fight!"

"Have you gone _mad, _Black?" asked Severus.

"Where's the snow?" Tonks scoffed.

"Well, we're _wizards, _aren't we?"

"Actually, I'm not. Neither are Alice and Tonks. We're _witches."_

"Whatever. We're all magic people, so –"

"_magic people?" _scoffed James.

"You know what I meant. We can all do magic, so let's conjure some snow and have some fun!"

They considered the idea.

"So what d'you say?" he asked after a considerably long period of silence.

"I'm in if everyone else is in," said Frank.

"Sure, why not. Might even be fun," Alice shrugged.

"Definitely!" James cried.

"I'm in!" Tonks said happily.

"Fine," sighed Remus and Lily.

"Severus?" asked Sirius, making a great effort to not call him Snivellus or Snape.

The fact that he had said his name had probably been enough for Severus. "Okay. Why not."

"Yes!"

So, feeling slightly foolish, they conjured up a lot of snow (Tonks just watched) and began fighting.

"Hah! Got ya!" James cried to Sirius, just as a snowball sent his way by Lily collided with his head.

"Oh, you are dead!" James said, making his way over to Lily. She shrieked and went to hide behind Alice, laughing.

"Don't get me involved!" Alice laughed, moving over to throw some snow at Sirius. She was soon joined in by Frank and Tonks.

"Why me?" he cried, running and dodging.

After having hit Lily a few times, and being hit back even more, James moved over to hit Severus. Severus grinned and threw some back at James.

James and Severus laughed as they collapsed, tired, onto the snow, and turned around to see Sirius also lying on the snow, curled up to try to protect his head, with the others furiously throwing snowballs at him.

They chuckled and joined them. After a while Sirius jumped up suddenly, shocking the others, and took his chance to throw as many as possible at anyone within range. They all ran away from him and began throwing snowballs randomly. Lily got hit in the back twice, James' glasses were thrown off his face, but he got them back quickly, Sirius by far was hit the most, with snow down his shirt, in his black hair, some possibly even down his pants. Tonks had been able to dodge most of the snowballs, but James had managed to hit her in the back of her head. Alice and Frank had thrown snowballs mainly to each other, and Severus had very cleverly cast a shield charm around himself, so no snow hit him at all.

"Aw, come on Sev, that isn't playing fair!" said James, trying and failing to throw snowballs at him. Severus grinned, and took off the shield for a few seconds, before hurriedly putting it back up as a snowball from each of the others headed his way. He grinned in his protective shell.

"Aww, that's no fun," said Sirius, throwing a snowball at James instead.

"Come on, fight like a man!" James cried, easily dodging Sirius' snowball.

Severus sighed and took of the shield.

"Yay!" James yelled, making a snowball.

Severus quickly threw one at James, then went running.

"Oh, I'm gonna get you for that!" And he did. Twice.

Tonks began chasing Remus, throwing snow as she did. Remus dodged them all with his heightened reflexes from being a werewolf, and threw some over his shoulder as he ran. Sirius was trying to hit Alice, but was finding it hard because she kept hiding behind a somewhat amused Frank. Lily was throwing snow at anyone who came near her.

Soon, they all lay down in a circle on the snow they had conjured, breathing heavily, tired but laughing.

"Merlin that was fun!" said Sirius.

"Yeah," James breathed, grinning.

"Back to the book?" Tonks asked.

"Oh yeah, the book!"

"Yeah, let's keep reading," said Lily, getting up. "But this is the last chapter. It's going to be dark soon."

"I didn't get to read!" Tonks whined.

"Fine, you can get a turn too, then it's time to go back inside, okay?"

"What about Sev? He's got to read. It's only fair that every new reader gets a chance to read," said Sirius.

"Argh! Fine, after Frank, it's Severus, then bed. Tonks, you can read first tomorrow."

"Fine."

"Good. Now let's continue."

"er – Where is the book?" asked Frank, looking around.

"You lost the book?"

"I can't find it."

"Damn, it must be under the snow. I guess we'll have to get rid of the snow, then," Sirius sighed.

"No, Dummy!" said James. "_Accio Harry Potter and the Philosopher's stone."_

"Oh, yeah. But you could've just said _Accio book, _Prongs."

"Well then any random book might have come."

"That's not how it works and you know it!"

"Whatever."

"Should we get rid of all the snow before we start reading again?" asked Alice.

"Why? It might be fun to throw snow while we read," Sirius said.

Lily shared a worried look with Alice and Remus, then sighed and let Frank read.

"Right, here we are," he said

**One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. **

They grinned.

**The lake froze solid and the Weasleys were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.**

"Nice one!" said James.

"I remember when you did something like that to me," said Severus, shuddering.

"Oh, yeah, sorry, mate."

"Yeah, sure," said Severus sarcastically.

**The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver post had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again. **

"He's so good with the owls."

**No one could wait for the holidays to start. **

"Can anyone _ever?"_ James scoffed.

"Doubt it. Holidays are so damn fun!" said Sirius.

**While the Gryffindor common room and the great Hall had roaring fires, the draughty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.**

"Why don't you heat the room, like Sluggy?" asked Sirius.

"Don't know, do I?" Severus shrugged.

"**I do feel sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."**

"Git," said James and Sirius automatically.

"I never liked the Malfoys," said Severus.

"Well, good for you. Knew we had to have something in common," Sirius joked.

**He was looking over at Harry as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled. Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lionfish, ignored them. **

**Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that Slytherin had lost, he tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next.**

"Like he could have made that catch himself!" said James scornfully.

"Bloody git."

**Then he'd realized that nobody found this funny,**

"Exactly! Hah!"

**because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. **

"Yeah!" James said happily.

"Bet Malfoy would've fallen down within ten seconds!"

"Yeah!" James said again.

**So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.**

"Can't come up with anything new?" James said.

"Pathetic," said Sirius.

**It was true that Harry wasn't going back to Privet drive for Christmas.**

"And that's a damn good thing!"

**Professor McGonagall had come round the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and Harry had signed up at once. He didn't feel sorry for himself at all;**

"He shouldn't!" said Alice.

**this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had.**

"Exactly!" James said.

"I doubt those Dursleys ever gave him any presents," Remus added bitterly.

**Ron and his brothers were staying too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie.**

"Nice to know he has friends with him!" Tonks said.

**When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead.**

"Why's that there?"asked Sirius.

"If you just let me_ read, _Sirius … "Frank said irritably.

**Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.**

"Yay, Hagrid!"

**"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches. **

**"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron." **

"Doubt he'd be much help anyway!" said Sirius. "I don't think he can carry that thing."

"He could use _Wingardium Leviosa," _said James fairly.

"Yeah, but he's not great at it."

"Did it when the troll was there," Frank interjected.

"Yeah. I guess."

**"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose –**

"Bloody git."

**that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to." Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.**

"damn," muttered Severus.

"Now he's gonna punish Ron, of course," Sirius said.

"Sorry!"

**"WEASLEY!" **

**Ron let go of Malfoy's robes. **

**"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."**

"Doubt that'll make a difference," sighed James.

"Yeah. I hardly ever listen to Hagrid," Severus said sadly.

**"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."**

Severus looked down in shame.

"No worries. It hasn't happened yet, Sev," James grinned. "Cheer up." Severus smiled a bit.

**Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking. **

**"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him-" **

**"I hate them both," said Harry, "Malfoy and Snape." **

Severus sighed again and shook his head.

**"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."**

"Always does," said Sirius happily.

**So Harry, Ron and Hermione followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.**

**"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree - put it in the far corner, would you?" **

**The Hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe **

"Mistletoe," grinned Sirius suggestively, winking at Lily, who was sitting beside James.

"Sirius!" James said. Sirius grinned. "Don't hit on me! I'm straight, and I'm going out with Lily!"

"Git!" roared Sirius as the rest of them started laughing. He jumped on top of James and Lily backed out of the way.

"Help! I'm being attacked by a crazed Gay man!" James shrieked, half-laughing as Sirius tried to hit him. Unfortunately for him, James was stronger.

This only made the others laugh harder.

"You – Bloody – Git!" thundered Sirius, now tickling James.

"Ack! S – St – Sto – op! Pa –a – addy!" He said through fits of laughter. Lily and Alice were rolling in the snow, clutching their stomachs, laughing like mad.

"Stop, I think someone might wet themselves with laughter," Remus chortled.

"H – Hey!" James stuttered.

"Actually, Prongs, It could be any of us; we're all laughing really hard!"

"Th – Than – Thanks!" he gasped. Sirius tickled him harder.

"Aah. Stoooop!" gasped James desperately, trying to pull out his wand.

"No, Prongs! No wands!" said Sirius, taking it. "Now say it."

"Wh – what?"

"Say you're sorry!"

"Fo – for wh – wha?" James barely managed to get out the words.

"Prongs!"

"Bu – but I –for- go – ot wha – what it wa – as!" cried James desperately.

Sirius stopped tickling him. "It was … You said … erm … I've forgotten too! Damn it!" he said, getting off of James.

The others laughed.

"Whatever it was, say you're sorry!"

"Fine. I'm sorry for doing something I don't even remember doing."

"If you guys need help remembering, James said you were hitting on him," Tonks said helpfully.

"Oh yeah!" said Sirius exclaimed, getting on top of James just as he was starting to sit up.

"Thanks a lot, Nymphadora!" James said angrily, just before throwing Sirius off of him and switching positions. "Now stop tickling me!" Tonks made a face at him.

"Argh!" Sirius yelled. "First say you're sorry."

"I can't, because I'm not. You have to admit the truth, Paddy!"

"Shut up Prongs!" Sirius said, trying to overpower James.

"Not gonna happen. I'm stronger than you and you know it!"

"Oof!" Sirius cried, and James hit him on the head with his left hand, while holding on to Sirius with his legs and other arm.

"Now, will you bloody well knock it off?"

"No!"

"Well, then you've left me no choice. I'm sorry that it had to come to this, Sirius," James said solemnly.

"What are you – aah!" he cried, as James began tickling him.

The others burst out with renewed laughter.

"Okay guys, cut it out. It's getting late."

"But you didn't stop him when he was tickling me!" James said.

"Well, now I am. So stop it."

"Fine!" James grumbled, getting off of Sirius, but putting a large amount of snow down his shirt first.

"AARGH! COLD! COLD! COLD! COLD!" he yelled, jumping up to try and shake it out of his shirt.

"Git," gasped Sirius when all of the snow had left.

"Moron."

"Prat."

"Gay."

"Why you –"

"Stop it!" Lily yelled, tying them up, and Silencing them.

"Umm … here we are," Frank said.

**Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls and no fewer than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles. **

**"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked. **

**"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me - Harry, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library." **

"The library?" Frank scoffed. "Merlin, she's a bit over the top, don't you think?"

Sirius and James nodded. Sirius got out of his bonds and wrote with his wand, 'mental'

"How'd he do that?" Severus asked incredulously.

'Practice makes perfect' Sirius wrote smugly. 'so why is she reading'

"Some people actually _enjoy _reading, Sirius,"

'I'm enjoying this book, but I don't go to the ' Lily cut him off before all the words left his wand.

"That's because it's from the future, and about us. But otherwise you hate reading," she said as the words, 'library just before the holidays' flew out of his wand.

'whatever' he wrote.

"It's not like you go to the library even when it _isn't _near the holidays!"

'true'

**"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming from out of his wand and trailing them over the branches of the new tree. **

**"The library?" said Hagrid following them out of the Hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?" **

'I'm with Hagrid'

"Reading isn't that bad," said Alice. James and Sirius stared at her.

**"Oh, we're not working," Harry told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is." **

'Ah' wrote Sirius.

"That makes it alright," Tonks nodded.

"Yup," said Frank. James nodded, unable to do anything else but roll around.

"Oh, so if he's trying to find out something he shouldn't know, or do something against the rules it's ok to read?" Lily said heatedly.

'exactly' Sirius wrote. 'glad youve finally caught on'

"Idiot. And there's an apostrophe between the "u" and the "v", Sirius."

'So comma who cares question mark' Sirius wrote.

"Oh, very funny."

'I know. thanks.'

"Idiot."

'I know that too.'

**"You what?" Hagrid looked shocked. "Listen here - I've told yeh - drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'." **

**"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione**

"Yeah right," snorted Tonks.

**"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added.**

Sirius snorted, silently. James rolled over to lie beside Lily an nudged her with his head.

"No James!" He gave her a pleading look. She sighed.

"Thanks!" he said happily, sitting up and giving her a kiss.

'what about me?' Sirius wrote hopefully.

"No!" cried Lily and James, and the latter threw some snow at Sirius.

**"We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere - just give us a hint - I know I've read his name somewhere."**

"Yeah. I think we heard that name too …" Remus began.

"Did we?" asked Alice.

"No, I don't think you guys were here for it. Somewhere earlier on in the book … Hold on, hand me the book again, Frank. I think it had something to do with the Hogwarts Express."

"Yeah, I've heard it too," Tonks said.

"Me too," Severus said uncertainly, "but not from this book."

Frank shrugged and handed him the book. Remus muttered a bit as he skimmed through the book until-

"Here it is. It was on Dumbledore's chocolate frog card!"

"I knew I had heard that name!" exclaimed Severus. "I've got tons of Dumbledores! Something about alchemy, right?"

"Yeah. Says here, _Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts.  
Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times,_Blah blah blah, _particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald_ … _Dragon's blood_ … here! _and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel_

"Alchemy. So that must be the work on the stone."

"Yeah."

"Cool. Nice of the author, um, JK Rowling, to give a hint about that in the book," said Lily thoughtfully. "Wonder if that happens a lot in the book."

"Maybe."

**"I'm sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid flatly. **

**"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library. **

**They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal?**

Severus mumbled something.

**The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. **

"Yeah. The library's bloody well huge!" said James.

**He wasn't in Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century, or Notable Magical Names of Our Time; he was missing, too, from Important Modern Magical Discoveries, and A Study of recent Developments in Wizardry. And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library;**

"You see?"

**tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.**

'enough on the library!' Sirius wrote.

"I agree!"

'and can you take of the silencing spell?'

"No. Actually, I can, but I don't want to," Lily added.

'please?'

"Nope."

'pretty please?'

"Nope."

'with a cherry on top?'

"NO!"

'but what about the cherry?'

"Who cares about the cherry?"

'it's on top'

"Stupid," said Lily, taking his wand before he could write anything else. Sirius glared at her and sighed.

**Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off shelves at random.**

"Heh, that sounds like what James would do," Remus grinned. James nodded. "Yup."

**Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books and he knew he'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts and only read by older students studying advanced Defense Against the Dark Arts.**

'we've been in there plenty of times!' Sirius wrote.

"Yes, but we had an in –" began James, but Remus glared at him and he stopped. "But we were lucky," he finished hastily.

"What did you have?" Tonks asked interestedly, ignoring the last part.

"Nothing!"

She made a noise that sounded like "tchah!"

**"What are you looking for, boy?" **

**"Nothing," Harry said. **

**Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at him. "You'd better get out, then. Go on - out!" **

"Can't the boy come up with a half-way decent story?" James wondered aloud. "he has Potter blood after all!"

"And that might not be such a good thing."

"Hey!"

**Wishing he'd been a bit quicker at thinking up some story, Harry left the library. He, Ron and Hermione had already agreed they'd better not ask madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk Snape hearing what they were up to.**

Severus was starting to get a bit upset. He sighed and looked at the ground sadly.

**Harry waited outside in the corridor to see if the other two had found anything, but he wasn't very hopeful. They had been looking for a fortnight, after all,**

"That long?" asked Lily.

"And they haven't found anything?" James scoffed.

**but as they only had moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing.**

"I guess that's right."

**What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.**

"That's where my special little item comes in handy!" James said.

"What item?"

"Doesn't matter. Who knows where it is now that I'm – er – you know," he finished with a sigh.

"Yeah, good point," said Remus. "Reckon one of us has it?"

"Maybe. Probably. Yeah, must be!"

**Five minutes later, Ron and Hermione joined him, shaking their heads. They went off to lunch. **

Sirius moved over to sit beside James.

"You won't be able to take back your wand, Sirius!" Lily said, eyeing him as he sat down.

Sirius shrugged.

**"You will keep looking while I'm away, wont you?" said Hermione. "And you'll send me an owl if you find anything." **

He reached over James and poked Lily. James shook his head.

"Don't learn, do you?"

**"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them." **

"Doubt they'll know anything though."

**"Very safe, as they're both dentists," said Hermione. **

"Dentists … those are like healers for teeth, right? And they fix problems in your teeth?" James said.

"Right. Good for you. How'd you know? Sirius, I'm warning you, stop it!" Lily added angrily to Sirius, who was still poking her. He stopped.

"I have my ways," James answered, ignoring the last bit.

"_ oh Please_, Sirius told you after he learned about all those weird tools they used in Muggle Studies," Remus snorted.

"Moony!" James whined.

"What?"

"I was being all mysterious and you ruined it!"

"Idiot. You were better off Silenced and tied up."

"NO!" James yelled.

**Once the holidays had started, Ron and Harry were having too good a time to think much about Flamel. They had the dormitory to themselves and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. **

Sirius chanced another poke.

"Stop it!" roared Lily furiously.

He pointed at his mouth.

"Never."

He shrugged and poked her again.

"Padfoot, I suggest you stop, mate!"

Sirius kept poking Lily over James, now also throwing snow at her. James shook his head and sighed. The others began exchanging bets as to what spell Lily would use.

"You asked for it," Lily said with an evil smirk, her wand pointing at Sirius. He stopped immediately.

Next second he was wriggling around like mad, his face scrunched up, looking in pain.

"What're you doing?" James asked pleasantly, as if talking about the nice weather.

"Not hurting him, that's for sure."

"Really?" James asked skeptically.

Lily momentarily removed the Silencing charm to reveal loud laughs and quickly put it back on.

"Ah," said James, as a lot of money came Tonks' way.

**They sat by the hour eating anything they could spare on a toasting fork - bread, crumpets, marshmallows - and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work.**

"Says who?" James demanded instantly.

"Please, none of the ones you made up for getting Severus thrown out worked. No offence, by the way, Severus," Remus added.

"Nah, no problems. I made up ways to get you guys thrown out too."

They grinned, but partly because of the sight of Sirius wriggling there.

**Ron also started teaching Harry wizard chess. This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in a battle.**

"Does that mean they're not alive in Muggle chess?" James asked incredulously.

"No."

"But where's the fun in that? If they're just _still,_ then it's all boring, and all you do is _think._ Really hard."

"James, some people actually like a challenge. Some people enjoy thinking once in a while."

"Well, what's the point in that?"

Lily just shook her head as Frank and Alice started to laugh.

**Ron's set was very old and battered. Like everything else he owned, it had once belonged to someone else in his family - in this case, his grandfather. However, old chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Ron knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted.**

"That's a good thing. My chessmen hate me," James said.

"They have a good reason. You always get them killed!" Remus exclaimed.

"It's not my fault you're better than me at chess!"

"Well, you get them killed on _purpose _sometimes!"

"Do not!"

"Do to!"

"Do to!"

"Do not!"

"Aha!" cried James.

"Crap," Remus said angrily.

**Harry played with chessmen Seamus Finnegan had lent him and they didn't trust him at all.**

"Ah. It's always best to play with your own men," Remus said wisely.

"Yup. Otherwise they try to tell you what to do, and they don't listen sometimes," James nodded. "Mind you, mine don't listen either, and I've had 'em since I was ten!"

"Mine don't trust me," Tonks said.

"I don't trust my men!" Frank said "They always tell me to do things, and I end up losing!"

"I'm not much of a chess player," said Lily. "I mostly just watch others play."

"Same with Wormtail," James said.

"Urgh, don't compare me to him, please," Lily said a little indignantly.

"What have you guys got against Wormy?" James demanded. "Alright, he's a bit slow, and yeah he says stupid things and we make fun of him and stuff, but he's not as bad as you guys make him out to be!"

"James is right," Remus said. Sirius nodded, but just barely, through his laughing.

"I just – I just don't trust him," Lily said hesitantly.

"But why not?" James demanded, halfway between anger and curiosity.

"Because. Just because."

"He's my mate, and I think I need a better reason than _because."_

"Look, I just have a _feeling, _okay?"

"A _feeling?_ What kind of _feeling?"_

"A bad one! He's not reliable. You know he's only hanging with you guys because you have some sort of standing and power in the school."

"What?"

"_What?"_ asked Remus, confused.

"Look, and Alice, back me up on this –"

"Hey, I'm staying out of this!"

"Fine! He's just … I don't know. Just, please, don't trust him as much as you do. You might live to regret it."

"What?"

"Well, we don't trust him that much as it is," James joked.

"Yeah. He's right," Remus said. Sirius nodded, or at least tried to, through his Silent laughing. Lily rolled her eyes and lifted the charms on Sirius.

"Thanks," he breathed.

"Well, anyway …" Frank said, thinking of a subject to change to.

"Yeah, let's get on with the book."

"Right."

**He wasn't a very good player**

"That can't be a good thing," Sirius said.

**Yet**

"oh, so he'll get better then."

"Shut up Sirius."

"No! Make me."

"you keep saying that, and you forget just how easily I can _make you,_" Lily sighed, raising her wand.

"Noo!" Gasped Sirius just as he started to be tickled again, and as he was once again Silenced.

"Why Alice, are you getting rich off of my poor friend's misfortune?" James asked, as the others handed Alice some Galleons.

"Why, yes I am, James. You want in?"

"Definitely. Later, though. He's already being tickled now."

"Suit yourself."

**and they kept shouting different bits of advice to him,**

"That's never good!" Frank said. "It gets so confusing when they're all telling you to do different things. And you can never sacrifice any of the men to get the other player's piece, because they damn well argue with you, those bloody things!"

"Sounds like you're speaking from experience, mate!" James laughed.

"I am! And you know how it is when I play you!"

"Yeah, I reckon Frank is the only one James can beat," Remus teased.

"I can also beat Sirius!" James whined "And Wormtail!"

"Well, everyone can beat Wormtail!"

"Even me!" Frank said. "With my untrusting chessmen!"

**which was confusing: "Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send him, we can afford to lose him."**

"See? That's just damn well annoying!"

**On Christmas Eve, Harry went to bed looking forward to next day for the food and the fun, not expecting any presents at all.**

"Nah, he'll get presents," James said confidently.

"For sure," Frank nodded in agreement.

"How do you know? Those Dursleys sure as hell won't give him anything!" Alice scoffed.

"Ew, not them, I meant the wizarding world. Harry's bloody famous. People will send him stuff!"

"I'm not so sure, James," Lily said.

"No, I think those Weasley folks might send him something," Remus said.

"Yeah. They seemed like nice people."

"Yeah."

Sirius jumped suddenly to pull attention to himself, and tried to look pleadingly at Lily. She sighed and gave in.

"You know, I think you gave in too quickly, Lily flower," James said. Sirius glared at him and chucked some snow his way. James lazily flicked it away with his wand, pretending to yawn.

"Git!"

"Flea!" James said, throwing snow back.

"Stop it!" yelled Lily.

**When he woke early next morning, however, the first thing he saw was a small pile of packages at the foot of his bed.**

"Told ya!"

"Knew it."

"Had to. All Potters get loads of presents," James joked.

"Idiot," Lily sighed.

**"Happy Christmas," said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his dressing-gown.**

"Christmas!" Sirius yelled loudly. "Woohooo!"

"Sirius, do you want me to Silence you _again?_" Lily said angrily. "We have to get through this chapter before it gets dark and we can't read!"

"Then we can just read in the common room."

"No, too many people there. And Severus wouldn't be able to read then."

"So we can go to the room," he said simply.

"That's actually a good idea," Lil said.

"What room?" asked Severus.

"No time to explain, let's just get through this chapter, and we can continue in the room if it gets dark."

**"You too," said Harry. "Will you look at this? I've got some presents!" **

"I told you he'd get presents!" Sirius said happily

"You did not!" James said.

"Well, I was thinking it! But I couldn't say because _someone," _he said, looking pointedly at Lily, who raised an eyebrow. "Erm, this beautiful, angelic woman was busy torturing me. Happy?"

Lily smirked.

**"What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron, turning to his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Harry's. **

**Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was **_**To Harry, from Hagrid**_**. **

"Ah, Hagrid's the best," Sirius said "I just love him."

"Good for you. So you finally coming out?" James said, barely containing his laughter.

"Coming out?" Sirius asked.

"You know, of your closet?" said James, putting all his effort to maintain a serious face.

"Out of my -? PRONGS!" he yelled.

James burst out laughing, and as did the others. Sirius started throwing spell after spell at James, who lazily flicked them away with him wand, and laughed at the trivial sport.

"Stupefy! Petrificus Totalus! Rectusempra! Wingardium Leviosa!"

"Not gonna happen, Paddy," James laughed.

"Hey, how'd you get the wand?" Lily asked.

Sirius grinned slightly, then gave up on his wand, tossed it aside into the snow, and began throwing more snowballs at James, who put his own wand into his pocket, and threw snow back at Sirius.

Once again, a large amount of money was being exchanged, but this time Remus was the lucky receiver of it.

'Enough!" Lily said tiredly, picking up both of the wands without their masters noticing. "Can we just get through this chapter in peace?"

"But where's the fun in peace?"

"Sirius!"

"Fine."

"James?"

"Fine."

"Good. Now please shut up."

"Shutting up."

"Yup, shutting up."

"Thank God," said Severus.

"Yup," agreed Frank.

"Merlin they're annoying though," said Tonks.

"And immature," added Alice. "Why on earth did you agree to go out with him, Lily?"

"You know what, I'm not really sure."

"Hey!" James cried.

"What happened to shutting up?"

"Right. Shutting up."

"Good," Lily said happily.

"Excellent," agreed Alice.

"Brilliant," said Severus brightly.

"Marvelous," added Sirius.

"Wonderful," James said.

"Spiffing," Sirius grinned.

"Truly amazing."

"Argh! They've started again!"

"Well, you were all doing it, so how did you expect us not to join in?"

"Argh. Just. Let. Frank. Read."

"Fine. With. Me," Sirius replied, earning him a good glare from Lily. He decided it was time to _actually _shut up.

**Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it - it sounded a bit like an owl. A second, very small parcel contained a note.**

_**We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia. **_

"They gave him something?" James said despite Lily's warning glares.

"And what message?" asked Sirius.

"SHUT UP!" the rest of them cried.

"Geez, if you wanted us to shut up, why didn't you just ask. No need to shout."

"AAAH! They're driving me mad, and I've only been here a few chapters!" Alice cried in exasperation.

"Stop insulting us, Alice," said Sirius. "Or I might just have to draw my wand!" Lily snickered.

"What's so – hey! Where's my wand?" he yelled.

"Mine's gone too!" James cried suddenly.

"So where are they?"

Lily grinned and took out both of their wands.

"Hey!"

"But when – argh! We threw it into the snow before we had that fight!" Sirius yelled angrily.

"Idiots," grinned Tonks.

"Should I keep reading?"

"Yeah."

"What about our wands! Give 'em back!"

"No!"

**Sellotaped to the note was a fifty-pence piece. **

"That's friendly" Lily said sarcastically

"Oh, I see," said Sirius bravely. "So it's ok for _you _to interrupt, but not us?"

"Exactly! Now shut up before I Silence you again!"

"Coward! You wouldn't do it if I had my wand too!"

"Oh yes I would!"

"No, you wouldn't!"

"Yes, she would, mate!" James said.

"Who's side are you bloody well on?"

"Isn't it obvious? Hers!"

"Some friend you are!"

"Hey, she has the wands!"

"Git!"

"Stinkbag!"

"Wart!"

"Snake!"

"Prat!"

"Gay –"

"Enough with the gay jokes!" yelled Sirius.

Alice received a lot more money from Remus, Tonks, Frank and even Severus and Lily.

"NO!"

"So what is a fifty-pence piece?" Frank asked Lily, ignoring the argument going on.

"Muggle money. Not really that much, even," Lily answered

"Gits," said Sirius, having finished (and lost) the fight.

**"That's friendly," said Harry. Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence. **

**"Weird!" he said. "What a shape! This is money?" **

**"You can keep it," said Harry, laughing at how pleased Ron was. "Hagrid and my aunt and uncle - so who sent these?" **

**"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, going a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mum. I told her you didn't expect any presents and - oh, no," he groaned, "she's made you a Weasley jumper." **

"A Weasley Jumper?" Sirius frowned.

"Must be a family thing," Lily said. "And you said you'd shut up!"

"Did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"Did no –"

"This is going nowhere. Just let Frank read!" Alice said tiredly.

**Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of home-made fudge. **

"Wow. That's so nice of her!" beamed Lily.

**"Every year she makes us a jumper," said Ron unwrapping his own, "and mine's always maroon."**

The boys snickered.

**"That's really nice of her," said Harry, trying the fudge, which was very tasty. His next present also contained sweets - a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione. **

**This left only one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it.  
Something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor, where it lay in gleaming folds.**

James, Sirius and Remus gasped.

"What?" asked Tonks.

**Ron gasped.**

"Well, I guess they'll find out what I have now," said James.

"What?"

"Just wait. You'll find out in a minute."

"But it could be someone else's, you know," Remus said reasonably. "could be something else."

"Nah, it's gotta be mine!"

"What?" asked Alice curiously.

"Just read, Frank."

"Amazing, first time they don't want to interrupt is the time we actually _want _them to talk!" said Alice incredulously.

**"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every-Flavor Beans he'd got from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is - they're really rare, and really valuable." **

**"What is it?" Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to touch, like water woven into material. **

"Definitely mine," James nodded certainly.

"Could be someone else's, James!"

"Who else has got one like mine?"

"Good point, actually," Sirius said.

"Argh! This is getting really annoying!" said Alice. Lily laughed.

**"It's an Invisibility Cloak,"**

Alice, Frank, Lily, Tonks and Severus gasped collectively.

"You have an invisibility cloak?" asked Alice incredulously.,

"Yup," grinned James.

"No _wonder _you never get caught sneaking around and stuff!"

"Yup! And with the Marauders map we know _exactly_ where not to go, and who is where."

"The what map?" asked Severus.

"This," said Sirius, brandishing the map.

"What's this? It's just some stupid parchment."

"Stupid parchment. Hah! This is our secret."

"A piece of parchment?"

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," Remus said, tapping the map with his wand, as the other two were still wandless.

"Wow. Nice. Did you guys make this?"

"Yup," Sirius said boastfully.

"Second year, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, think so."

"Wow. Really advanced for second year magic!" exclaimed Severus.

"Yup!"

"well, with the cloak and the map, it's like the perfect crime or something!" exclaimed Tonks.

"Yeah! You would never get caught!"

"Exactly! That, oh lucky ones, is one of the Marauders' best, unsurpassed secrets to success! You are very fortunate to be let in on our greatest, most treasured –"

"Oh, shut up already, Prongs," said Remus, rolling his eyes.

"Moonyy! I was in the middle of my cool speech! Why'd you ruin it?"

"Just shut up, Prongs," sighed Remus.

**said Ron, a look of awe on his face. "I'm sure it is - try it on." Harry threw the Cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell. "It is! Look down!"**

**Harry looked down at his feet, but they had gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in mid-air, his body completely invisible. He pulled the Cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely. **

"Yeah, that's what me and Remus did as soon as we found out about it, halfway through first year," grinned Sirius.

**"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!" **

**Harry pulled off the Cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words: **

"Narrow and loopy!" exclaimed Severus.

"Dumbledore!" they all, except Tonks (who had never seen his writing), yelled.

**Your father left this in my possession before he died.**

"See? It was mine!" James said ecstatically

**It is time it was returned to you.  
Use it well.  
A Very Merry Christmas to you. **

**There was no signature. Harry stared at the note. Ron was admiring the Cloak. "I'd give anything for one of these," he said. "Anything. What's the matter?" **

**"Nothing," said Harry. He felt very strange. Who had sent the Cloak?**

"Dumbledore!"

**Had it really once belonged to his father?**

"Yes!"

**Before he could say or think anything else, the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George Weasley bounded in. Harry stuffed the Cloak quickly out of sight. He didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.**

"Smart move," nodded James. "Otherwise everybody would want to borrow it!"

"**Merry Christmas!"**

"MERRY CHRISTMAS!" yelled Sirius.

"Keep it down, Padfoot!"

**"Hey, look - Harry's got a Weasley jumper, too!" Fred and George were wearing blue jumpers, one with a large yellow F on it, the other with a large yellow G. **

**"Harry's is better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's jumper. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family." **

They chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, that's the way it works with my mom too," James sighed. "It's always Sirius this, Sirius that. You'd think he was her son!"

"What?" Alice asked.

"Oh, Sirius moved in with me, like, I don't know a year or two ago. Hard to remember. Anyway, my mom makes more of an effort with his stuff."

"Used to, anyway," Sirius added. "Now we're both treated the same."

"Well, she' used to you know. You're pretty much my brother."

"Scary thought," shuddered Remus.

"Hey!"

**"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm." **

**"I hate maroon," **

"What's wrong with maroon?" asked Sirius.

"Well, I don't suppose a gay man would find anything wrong with maroon," said James.

"Enough!" yelled Sirius, jumping on top of James yet again.

"Get off! I'm not gay!" James laughed. At that exact moment, two fourth years passed by.

"I always wondered about them. I mean, I know Black is gay, but d'you reckon Potter is –"

"I AM NOT GAY!" yelled Sirius, as Severus, Tonks, Alice, Frank, Remus and Lily burst out with laughter.

"But then Potter was trying to throw him off, so he must be straight. And I think he's going out with Evans. Yup, there she is."

"So what is Black trying to do with him?" asked the other one.

"Oi! Shove off, Vance!" yelled Sirius. "You're lucky you're a girl or else –"

" Or else you'll what, Black?" Emmaline snorted. "So are you really gay?"

"I am most certainly NOT gay!"

"In denial," Emmaline stage whispered.

"Shut up!" yelled Sirius. They ran off, half-scared of him, half-laughing.

"Great. It's already spreading!"

"Well, it's the truth!"

"PRONGS!"

"Knock it off already!" Lily yelled, pointing her wand.

Sirius grumbled something and sat down quietly. James grinned.

**Ron moaned half-heartedly as he pulled it over his head. **

**"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid - we know we're called Gred and Forge." **

They laughed.

"Those guys are cool," Sirius grinned. "I lik – never mind!"

James cackled with laughter.

"Shut up, prat!"

"Git!"

"Moron!"

"Flobberworm!"

"Snake!"

"Flea!"

"Deer!"

"Sock!"

"Sock?"

"Yup."

"Shoe!"

"Um, glove!"

"Tie!"

"Robe!" They began laughing.

"What were we arguing about again?" asked James.

"No idea."

**"What's all this noise?" Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. **

**He had clearly come halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy jumper over his arm, which Fred seized. **

**"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Harry got one." **

Sirius grinned broadly. "Those two are great!"

"But they're not even born! They're a bit too young for you, don't you thi –"

"PRONGS! STOP IT!"

**"I - don't - want -" said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the jumper over his head, knocking his glasses askew. **

**"And you're not sitting with the Prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."**

**They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his sides by his jumper. Harry had never in all his life had such a Christmas dinner. A hundred fat, roast turkeys, mountains of roast and boiled potatoes, platters of fat chipolatas, tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce -**

"Christmas dinners are the best," drooled Sirius. "I can't wait for Christmas!"

"Urgh. Stop drooling!"

"Shut up!"

"Make me!"

"Oi! Stop it!" Remus scolded.

**and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. **

"I love those!" James said happily "They have the best stuff in them!"

**These fantastic crackers were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones the Dursleys usually bought, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats.**

Sirius snorted.

**Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke,**

"They rock!"

"Almost as good as the ones we made!"

"Yeah!"

"'Course, ours had more than just a cannon blast. I think Sirius couldn't hear properly for the rest of the week, right?" said James.

"Yup," grinned Sirius.

"that's some cracker," said Alice.

"Sure was."

**while from the inside exploded a rear-admiral's hat and several live, white mice.**

"More'n that came out of our one, right Paddy," James grinned.

"Yup."

"What kind of stuff came out of it?"

"That's for us to know," began Sirius.

"And you to find out," James finshed.

"And how am I supposed to find out?"

"Umm … good point."

"She could buy one from us!"

"Yeah, we should sell them!"

"Yeah!"

**Up on the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.**

"Wonder what it was," Sirius said.

"Could be anything."

"Oh, I just thought of the best joke EVER!" Sirius said happily.

"Well, good for you," James said.

"But we don't want to hear it," Lily grinned.

"Hey! I bet you'd all laugh!" Sirius said.

"No, we don't," Lily said, just as James asked, "How much?"

"James! We do not want to hear it!" Lily snapped.

"Well, I guess that means _we _don't want to hear it," James said, rolling his eyes behind Lily's back.

"James!" Lily warned.

"What?"

**Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice.**

"Good one, whoever did that!"

**Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who, to Harry's amazement, giggled and blushed,**

"She's _drunk!"_ Sirius said disbelievingly.

James grinned. "Knew she had to have a _wild _side!"

"James!"

"You keep saying that. What?"

"Nothing!"

**her top hat lop-sided. When Harry finally left the table, he was laden down with a stack of things out of the crackers, including a pack of non-explodable, luminous balloons, a grow your own warts kit**

"Nice. I remember Sirius messing around with one of those once …" began James.

"Don't, Prongs!" Sirius cried.

"What happened?" asked Severus.

"Well, we were messing around, figuring out how best to use the kit, and then this genius over here spills everything over himself –"

"Pro – ongs!" moaned Sirius.

"Warts _everywhere!"_ James laughed.

They all laughed.

"And i _mean_ everywhere!"

"PRONGS!"

**and his own new wizard chess set.**

"That's nice. Maybe these men will trust him," Frank said.

**The white mice had disappeared and Harry had a nasty feeling they were going to end up as Mrs. Norris' Christmas dinner.**

"Poor mice."

"Yeah. What a horrible fate, ending up in Mrs. Norris' belly," shuddered Sirius.

"Urgh!"

"What? It's the truth!"

"Like me being Harry's father?" asked James.

"Yeah!"

"Like Tonks being your cousin?"

"Yeah!"

"Like you being gay?"

"Yeah! Wait what? NO!"

They all started laughing again.

"You're all prats!" Sirius mumbled angrily. They ignored him, and finally sobered up enough to continue reading.

**Harry and the Weasleys spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight in the grounds. **

"Yeah! Go snowballs!" James cried, throwing some at Sirius, who delightedly threw some back.

"Not this again," sighed Lily.

**Then, cold, wet and gasping for breath,**

Sirius grinned, lying on the ground, also wet from the snow which he had been unable to dodge.

**they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron.** **He suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help him so much.**

"Like that would've made a difference!" snorted Sirius.

"Yeah. He's just as bad as chess as his father!" James said happily.

**After a tea of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor Tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge.**

"Nice one," grinned Sirius.

**It had been Harry's best Christmas day ever. Yet something had been nagging at the back of his mind all day. Not until he climbed into bed was he free to think about it: the Invisibility Cloak and whoever had sent it.**

"Dumbledore!"

**Ron, full of turkey and cake and with nothing mysterious to bother him, fell asleep almost as soon as he'd drawn the curtains of his four-poster. **

"Wormtail does that"

**Harry leant over the side of his own bed and pulled the Cloak out from under it. His father's ... this had been his father's. **

"Yup, that's me! That was mine!"

**He let the material flow over his hands, smoother than silk, light as air. Use it well, the note had said.**

"Oh, Merlin, don't let him use it like his father does!" Lily said hopefully.

"Hey! Being a Marauder is fun!" James said.

"It's awesome!" added Sirius.

"Brilliant!" Remus said.

**He had to try it, now.**

"Atta boy, Harry!" James grinned happily.

"No!" moaned Lily.

**He slipped out of bed and wrapped the Cloak around himself. Looking down at his legs, he saw only moonlight and shadows. It was a very funny feeling.**

"It's brilliant!" sighed James.

"Pretty cool first time," Sirius said.

"But you get used to it," Remus added.

"Eventually. Wormtail didn't for a while," Sirius chortled.

"Well, he's a special case for almost everything," Remus sighed.

**Use it well. **

"Very well"

**Suddenly, Harry felt wide awake. The whole of Hogwarts was open to him in this Cloak. Excitement flooded through him as he stood there in the dark and silence. He could go anywhere in this, anywhere, and Filch would never know. **

"As long as you're not stupid about it," Sirius nodded.

"As I recall, Wormy banged right into a suit of armour his first time under the cloak, right?" James grinned.

"Yeah. That's why we waited to tell him about the cloak."

**Ron grunted in his sleep. Should Harry wake him?**

"Why not? I always wake Padfoot up when I feel like a night time walk to do something fun," James said.

"What you call fun, I call stupid," Lily sighed.

"Nothing fun isn't a little stupid," James argued. "Remember that time we knocked down all the suits of armour on the third and fourth floors!"

"At four," Sirius added.

"In the morning!" Remus finished.

"Merlin, Remus! You were in on that prank too?" Lily asked, a little surprised.

"Yup. That was actually one of my favourite pranks!"

"One of our best, for sure," James nodded.

**Something held him back - his father's Cloak - he felt that this time - the first time - he wanted to use it alone.**

"Makes sense … I guess," James said slowly.

**He crept out of the dormitory, down the stairs, across the common room and climbed through the portrait hole. **

**"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady. Harry said nothing.**

"I never do either," James snorted.

"Doubt anyone tells her anything, really."

**He walked quickly down the corridor. Where should he go? He stopped, his heart racing, and thought. And then it came to him. The Restricted Section in the library.**

"His first time under the cloak, and he wants to go to the _library?" _James asked incredulously. "I think I'm going to faint! He _must _get that from you!"

"What's wrong with the library?" Lily asked indignantly. "And besides, he probably wants to see if he can find something out about Flamel."

"Oh yeah. Guess it's alright then."

"But I don't get one thing," Sirius said slowly.

James rolled his eyes. "What I it, Paddy?"

"The chapter's called the Mirror of – er – something –"

"Erised," Remus said. "And?"

"Right, Erised. So, where does that mirror come in? It must be over halfway through the chapter already!"

"Paddy! If you'd just wait he's probably going to find it now, under the cloak!" James said.

"Oh yeah …"

**He'd be able to read as long as he liked, as long as it took to find out who Flamel was. He set off, drawing the Invisibility Cloak tight around him as he walked. The library was pitch black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the rows of books. **

"Why doesn't he just use Lumos?" asked Sirius.

"Probably hasn't learned it yet, Padfoot."

"Ah, yeah. Forgot he was only a firstie."

"Hey!" said Tonks indignantly.

**The lamp looked as if it was floating in mid-air, and even though Harry could feel his arm supporting it, the sight gave him the creeps.**

"Sounds familiar," James grinned, looking at Sirius.

"What? It's freaky, alright!"

They chuckled.

**The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope which separated these books from the rest of the library, he held up his lamp to read the titles. They didn't tell him much. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages Harry couldn't understand. Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood.**

"That's probably 'cause it is blood," Sirius said.

"Yeah."

**The hairs on the back of Harry's neck prickled. Maybe he was imagining it, maybe not, but he thought a faint whispering was coming from the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.**

"They do! They're evil!" Sirius said dramatically.

**He had to start somewhere. Setting the lamp down carefully on the floor, he looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting-looking book. **

"He'd beter be careful, though! Some of those books bloody well scream!" James warned.

**A large black and silver volume caught his eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, **

"Uh oh. That sounds familiar," Sirius gulped.

"But that's the worst one!" James gasped.

**and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.**

"No!" James moaned.

**A piercing, blood-curdling shriek split the silence – **

"No! The worst book to choose!"

**the book was screaming!**

"DUH!"

**Harry snapped it shut, **

"Not going to help. It just keeps screaming," James said sadly.

**but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, ear-splitting note.**

"Told you it was the worst one."

"And now Filch will probably come," sighed Frank.

**He stumbled backwards and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once.**

"That's why Lumos is way better," Sirius said.

**Panicking, he heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside - stuffing the shrieking book back on the shelf, he ran for it. **

**He passed Filch almost in the doorway;**

"The worst possible person," James sighed.

**Filch's pale, wide eyes looked straight through him and Harry slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in his ears. **

**He came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. He had been so busy getting away from the library; he hadn't paid any attention to where he was going. **

"He's_ lost_?" James cried.

"Just bloody well brilliant!" Sirius said sarcastically.

"This is probably where he ends up seeing the mirror," Remus said.

"Oh yeah. Good thinking, Moony," said Sirius.

**Perhaps because it was dark, he didn't recognize where he was at all. There was a suit of armour near the kitchens, he knew**

"There're suits of armour in more places than near the kitchens, Harry," James chuckled.

**but he must be five floors above there.**

"Wait, does that mean he's already found the kitchens? The book didn't mention that!" Sirius said.

"We didn't get there 'till beginning of second year."

**"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library - Restricted Section." **

**Harry felt the blood drain out of his face. Wherever he was, Filch must know a short cut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to his horror, it was Snape who replied. **

"I stand corrected," James said. "_He_ is the worst possible person."

"Hey!" Severus said indignantly.

"Not _you, _Sev. _Future _you," James explained, as though this made a difference.

Severus shook his head and let it go.

**"The restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."**

**Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead. They couldn't see him, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into him - the Cloak didn't stop him being solid. **

"As Sirius found out the hard way," James grinned.

"When he bumped right into Slughorn," Remus laughed.

"How did you manage that? Slughorn's not exactly hard to miss," Tonks said.

"I don't know. I wasn't looking where I was going, and next thing I know, I'm staring into his giant belly."

"And cleaning the trophy room," James smirked.

"Heh, I didn't do it properly. I spat on Voldemort's trophy."

"Voldemort has a trophy? In Hogwarts?" Alice asked, surprised.

"Well, Tom Riddle does. For services to the school, or something. And Riddle is Voldemort, before he changed his name."

"What services could he have done?" scoffed Frank.

"Don't know. But I heard it was something big. Something dangerous," Sirius said darkly. "Probably something he did himself, but didn't own up to! Anyway, let's just say his shield isn't shiny just with polish."

"What did you do?"

"I, erm, wiped some stuff on it, that's all."

"You know what, I don't think I want to know."

"Trust me, you don't."

**He backed away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left. It was his only hope. **

**He squeezed through it, holding his breath, trying not to move it, and to his relief he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything. They walked straight past and Harry leant against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away. That had been close, very close. **

"Yup. That's what makes it so much fun: the thrill!"

**It was a few seconds before he noticed anything about the room he had hidden in. It looked like a disused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls and there was an upturned waste-paper basket - but propped against the wall facing him was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way. **

**It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet.**

"The mirror of Erised!" they all exclaimed.

**There was an inscription carved around the top: Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi.**

"Translation, Moony?" Sirius asked, grabbing the book from a confused Frank, and handing it to Remus.

"Well, if it's the same as it was for Erised, then … I show not your face but your heart's desire."

"wow. Sounds deep," Sirius joked.

"Idiot."

"I know."

**His panic fading now that there was no sound of Filch and Snape, Harry moved nearer to the mirror, wanting to look at himself but see no reflection again.**

"That's the best," grinned Sirius.

"Doubt that'll happen, though. This seems like a magical, powerful mirror," said Remus thoughtfully.

**He stepped in front of it. He had to clap his hands to his mouth to stop himself screaming. He whirled around. His heart was pounding far more furiously than when the book had screamed - for he had seen not only himself in the mirror, but a whole crowd of people standing right behind him.**

"What - ?" began Remus, before a look of dawning comprehension appeared on his face, followed by a sad smile.

The others were confused. Only Lily and Severus seemed to be trying to figure something out.

**But the room was empty. Breathing very fast, he turned slowly back to the mirror.  
There he was, reflected in it, white and scared-looking, and there, reflected behind him, were at least ten others. Harry looked over his shoulder - but, still, no one was there. Or were they all invisible, too? Was he in fact in a room full of invisible people and this mirror's trick was that it reflected them, invisible or not?**

Lily gasped. Tears appeared on her face.

"What is it?" James asked softly.

Lily sniffed but didn't say anything.

**He looked in the mirror again. A woman standing right behind his reflection was smiling at him and waving. He reached out a hand and felt the air behind him. If she really was there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air - she and the others existed only in the mirror.**

**She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes - her eyes are just like mine, Harry thought, edging a little closer to the glass. Bright green - exactly the same shape,**

James frowned, looking at Lily, whose head was resting on his shoulder.

"Wait a second – " he began.

"His heart's desire," sniffed Lily.

"No!" gasped James.

"What?" asked Sirius and Tonks.

"His – the mirror. It shows our heart's desire."

"I still don't – oh!" Sirius said, followed by a much lower, sadder, "Oh."

**but then he noticed that she was crying; smiling, but crying at the same time.**

They all understood now.

James held Lily, and she sobbed into his shoulder.

"Harry," she whispered softly.

**The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just like Harry's did. **

James smiled sadly

Sirius was about to make a joke to try to lighten the mood, but it wouldn't come out. It just choked in his throat, as he, too, had a tear on his cheek.

**Harry was now so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.  
"Mum?" he whispered. "Dad?" **

**They just looked at him, smiling. And slowly, Harry looked into the faces of the other people in the mirror and saw other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses like his, and even a little old man who looked as though he had Harry's knobbly knees - Harry was looking at his family for the first time in his life. **

"His family," sighed Lily, her head still on James' shoulder, but she was no longer crying, just staring sadly into space.

"but they can't _all _be dead, can they? What about our parents?" James asked.

"Who knows," sighed Remus.

**The Potters smiled and waved at Harry as he stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through and reach them. He had a powerful kind of ache inside him, half joy, half terrible sadness.**

"Oh, Harry! You shouldn't stay there! Go and leave! And don't come back!" Lily said anxiously.

"Yeah. This Mirror thing is bad news," Sirius said gravely.

**How long he stood there, he didn't know. The reflections did not fade and he looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses. He couldn't stay here; he had to find his way back to bed.**

"Good. Go and don't come back!" Lily said sadly, yet surely.

**He tore his eyes away from his mother's face, whispered, "I'll come back," and hurried from the room.**

"Harry, no, don't –"

"Lily," James said gently. "He – he can't hear us." Lily began crying into his shoulder again. He gently hugged her and let her cry while choking back tears.

Frank wasn't sure whether or not to continue, but James gave him the smallest of nods, and he did.

**"You could have woken me up," said Ron, crossly. **

**"You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror." **

"Harry, don't!" moaned James.

**"I'd like to see your mum and dad," Ron said eagerly.**

"well, I doubt his heart's desire is to see you two idiots, so I doubt he will!" Sirius snorted, lightening the mood.

**"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, you'll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone."**

"Not exactly how it works, Harry," James sighed.

**"You can see them any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people.**

"Hey!"

**Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?" **

**Harry couldn't eat. He had seen his parents and would be seeing them again tonight. He had almost forgotten about Flamel. It didn't seem very important anymore. **

"Not important?" James spluttered. "What's wrong with him? That's the most important thing!"

"James," Lily said softly, no longer crying, but with red eyes. "He … he doesn't … It won't make a difference."

"I know," James sighed. "But I just can't help it. He's … he's being such a –"

"James, he just wants to see his parents," Remus said gently. Lily once again began crying.

"Don't," James whispered into her ear. "It's okay, come on."

**Who cared what the three-headed dog was guarding? What did it matter if Snape stole it, really? **

"Of course it matters!" Sirius cried.

"And I'm not stealing it!" Severus added indignantly.

Lily smile and the tears stopped flowing. James also smiled sadly.

"**Are you all right?" said Ron. "You look odd." **

**What Harry feared most was that he might not be able to find the mirror room again. **

"That's a good thing!" James said fiercely.

**With Ron covered in the Cloak too, they had to walk much more slowly next night. They tried retracing Harry's route from the library, wandering around the dark passageways for nearly an hour. **

"It'd probably get cold"

**"I'm freezing," said Ron. "Let's forget it and go back." **

"See?"

**"No!" Harry hissed. "I know it's here somewhere." **

"Stop it, Harry!"

**They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the opposite direction, but saw no one else. Just as Ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold, Harry spotted the suit of armour. "It's here - just here - yes!"**

"Nooo!"

**They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the Cloak from round his shoulders and ran to the mirror. There they were. His mother and father beamed at the sight of him. **

Lily groaned, "Leave it Harry"

**"See?" Harry whispered. **

**"I can't see anything." **

**"Look! Look at them all ... there are loads of them ..." **

**"I can only see you." **

**"Look in it properly, go on, and stand where I am." **

"Not gonna work!"

**Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, he couldn't see his family any more, just Ron in his paisley pajamas.**

"See?"

**Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image. "Look at me!" he said.**

"What does he see?" asked Sirius almost too eagerly.

**"Can you see all your family standing around you?"**

"Doubt it."

**"No - I'm alone - but I'm different - I look older - and I'm Head Boy!"**

"His heart's desire …" Sirius began slowly.

"Is to be head boy?" James finished equally slowly, and possibly a little angrily.

**"What?" **

**"I am - I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to - and I'm holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup - I'm Quidditch captain, too!" **

"Well, that's a lot better than Head Boys," Sirius began.

"Oi! I'm going to be head boy!" James yelled.

"But still," Sirius continued, as though he hadn't been interrupted. "This kid has some issues if that's his heart's desire!"

**Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry. **

**"Do you think this mirror shows the future?" **

**"How can it? All my family are dead - let me have another look -" **

"Oh, Harry," James whispered sadly.

**"You had it all to yourself last night, give me a bit more time." **

"Knew this thing was bad!" Lily sighed.

**"You're only holding the Quidditch Cup, what's interesting about that? I want to see my parents." **

**"Don't push me -" **

"Bad Mirror! Bad!" Sirius yelled.

**A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion. They hadn't realized how loudly they had been talking.**

**"Quick!"**

**Ron threw the Cloak back over them as the luminous eyes of Mrs. Norris came round the door. Ron and Harry stood quite still, both thinking the same thing - did the Cloak work on cats? **

"Yeah it does" James said

"And Thank Merlin for that!" Sirius added.

**After what seemed an age, she turned and left. **

**"This isn't safe - she might have gone for Filch, I bet she heard us. Come on." And Ron pulled Harry out of the room. **

**The snow still hadn't melted next morning. **

"No, it doesn't melt that quickly."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious!" James grinned.

"It's Major Obvious, actually," Sirius shot back.

**"Want to play chess, Harry?" said Ron. **

**"No." **

"Yeah, he'd lose"

**"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?" **

**"No ... you go ..." **

**"I know what you're thinking about, Harry, that mirror. Don't go back tonight." **

"Listen to Ron, Harry," Lily said gently

**"Why not?" **

"Because it's evil!" James said dramatically.

**"I don't know, I've just got a bad feeling about it - and, anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape and Mrs. Norris are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"**

"Never stopped us!" beamed Sirius, cheering up the mood.

"Yup. And we never knocked anything over. At least not by accident," James added with a laugh.

"Well, Wormtail knocked his fair share of things over," Remus said.

"Like you said, he's a special case for almost everything!"

"Hah, yeah."

**"You sound like Hermione." **

**"I'm serious, Harry, don't go." **

**But Harry only had one thought in his head, which was to get back in front of the mirror, and Ron wasn't going to stop him. **

"Harry James Potter, I forbid you from going there again!" Lily said sternly.

James blinked. "James? Since when is his middle name James?"

"Tradition. First son's middle name is the father's name, and first daughter's … well, I guess that doesn't really matter, does it?" Lily finished with a sigh.

James smiled at her. "We have the same tradition in our family too, you know."

"Mmm …" Lily said absently, not really listening.

**That third night he found his way more quickly than before. He was walking so fast he knew he was making more noise than was wise, but he didn't meet anyone.**

"Lucky, isn't he?"

"Bit too lucky," Lily muttered.

"Are you saying you _want _him to get caught?" James asked in disbelief.

"Better than going back there," she said bitterly.

James frowned a bit, then shrugged it off.

**And there were his mother and father, smiling at him again, and one of his grandfathers nodding happily. Harry sank down to sit on the floor in front of the mirror. There was nothing to stop him staying here all night with his family. Nothing at all. Except - "So - back again, Harry?"**

"Oh crap."

"Damn it."

"Shoot."

"Bloody hell."

"Shit!"

"Oh no!"

"Guess he wasn't that lucky after all," James said ironically.

"Yeah," snorted Sirius. "So who could it be?"

"Who knows. We'll find out."

**Harry felt as though his insides had turned to ice. He looked behind him. Sitting on one of the desks by the wall was none other than Albus Dumbledore. **

"He'd doomed"

"Headmaster, of all people!" James cried hysterically.

"Well, I reckon Dumbledore's a lot better than Filch!" Sirius commented.

**Harry must have walked straight past him, so desperate to get to the mirror he hadn't noticed him.  
" I - I didn't see you, sir." **

"Obviously"

**"Strange how short-sighted being invisible can make you," said Dumbledore, and Harry was relieved to see that he was smiling. **

Lily sighed with relief

"So he's not mad, then?"Severus asked.

"Obviously. He's smiling!"said Tonks happily.

**"So," said Dumbledore, slipping off the desk to sit on the floor with Harry, "you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised." **

**"I didn't know it was called that, sir." **

"It only says that on the side," Sirius said sarcastically

**"But I expect you've realized by now what it does?" **

**"It - well - it shows me my family -" **

**"And it showed your friend Ron himself as Head Boy." **

**"How did you know-?" **

**"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," said Dumbledore gently. **

"Then why'd he have mine before I died?" James asked suddenly.

"Wow, I'm surprised you even remembered!" Alice smirked.

"I remember stuff!"

"Some stuff."

"Not much stuff."

"Barely anything, really."

**"Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?" Harry shook his head. "Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is; he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?" **

Remus nodded. "that's a big clue."

**Harry thought. Then he said slowly. "It shows us what we want ... whatever we want ..."**

"Good for him, he figured it out!"

"Shut up, Sirius!"

**"Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly.**

"Can't he ever give a straight answer?"

**"It shows us nothing more or less than the deepest, most desperate desire of our hearts.**

"See what I mean? He could've just said, It shows you your heart's desire, but nooo, he has to say it in a weird, long way."

"James, stop being an idiot."

"He can't help it, Lily," Frank grinned.

"Oi!"

"It's the truth, Prongs!"

"Shut up, Padfoot!"

"Make me. No! Don't!"

**You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you.**

James stopped arguing, and sat down beside Lily, hugging her with one arm. She smiled sadly.

**Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them.**

"Guess that makes some sense, then," Sirius said quietly.

**However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge nor truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, **

They looked horrified.

"Thank Merlin Dumbledore's telling him to stop!" Tonks said.

"Yeah! Or else who knows how long he would have stayed there!" Alice exclaimed.

James and Lily sighed.

**not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible. The mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again.**

"Good. He'll listen to Dumbledore, right?" Lily added uncertainly.

James grinned. "Umm … well, he has Marauder blood after all, so you can never be too sure."

"James!"

"Fine. He'll listen. Even _we _listen to Dumbledore."

"Almost always."

"Most of the time."

"Sometimes."

"Occasionally."

"Rarely."

"Hardly ever."

"Sirius! James!" Lily said angrily.

They grinned. "He'll listen," they both said simultaneously.

**If you ever do run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable Cloak back on and get off to bed?"**

"Admirable, he said!" James said happily.

**Harry stood up. "Sir - Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?" **

**"Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however." **

"That's Dumbledore for you!"

**"What do you see when you look in the Mirror?"**

"He thinks it's okay to just _ask _the headmaster that?" Alice said in shock.

"The boys got some guts, mate," Frank grinned.

"Which is surprising, since his father's a right coward," Sirius grinned.

"I am not!"

"Yes you are, you deer-in-the-headlights!"

"Shut up, you gay bunny!"

"I am not a bunny!"

"So you're saying you're not a bunny, but you _are_ gay?"

"I am NOT! I am NOT GAY Potter!" Sirius yelled, jumping up.

"Prove it, Black!" James cried, also standing up.

"How?" he asked almost desperately.

"Umm … you know what, I'm not sure that you can," James smirked evilly.

"PRONGS!" He lunged at James. James ducked out of the way.

"Well, be reasonable. If you are gay, how are you suppose to prove that you're _not?" _Why don't you just admit it, Paddy?"

"Stop it, James! I'm warning you!"

"What're you gonna do?"

"Hang you upside down in the air!"

"Then Sev will just let me down."

"He will?"

"I will?"

"Yes, you will."

"Why?"

"Because we're mates now."

"We are?"

"Yes, and you won't let your mate hang upside down, will you?"

"Hmm."

"Severus!"

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means he ain't gonna help ya, Prongsie, and since no one else knows how to …" Sirius flicked his wand and James was sent skyward, yelling loudly. Sirius grinned and sat down near Tonks and Remus.

"Moony, my new best friend, you can help me out, right?"

"'Fraid not, Prongs," grinned Remus. "I don't know it."

"It's L-" The counter-curse never made it out of James' mouth. He had quickly been Silenced by Sirius muttering, "_Silencio."_

**"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."**

"That can't be what he sees!" Sirius yelled.

"No need to yell, Sirius," Tonks said angrily, rubbing her ear.

"Bat that just _can't _be what he sees! He's _got _to be lying, right?"

"Why does it even matter?"

"It does!"

"It doesn't, Sirius!"

**Harry stared. "One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books." **

"Well we know what to get Dumbledore now!" Sirius said gleefully "Socks."

"You give him a Christmas present?" Severus asked.

"'Course! How else would we stay on his good side? Right Prongs?" James glared at him.

"Don't look at me like that, you were asking for it." James raised his eyebrows.

Severus laughed and let James down. He fell in a heap on the snow.

James immediately lunged at Sirius, and Remus pulled Tonks out of the way, as he was so used to this kind of acting.

"Gerrof!" grumbled Sirius from beneath James.

"Leave it James!" James nodded and got off, hitting Sirius on the head. He then pointed at his mouth, and Lily lifted the Silencing charm.

**It was only when he was back in bed that it struck Harry that Dumbledore might not have been quite truthful. **

"Took him long enough. Obviously got his dad's brains."

"Git."

**But then, he thought, as he shoved Scabbers off his pillow, it had been quite a personal question.**

"Yeah."

"It was."

"So who's taking the next chapter?"

"Sev," James said.

"Okay. Here you go, mate," Frank said as he handed over the book.

"But this is the last chapter!" Lily said.

"But it's only – wow! It's already almost eight!"

"We took a long time to read just a few chapters," James grinned.

"That's because _some people _wouldn't shut up!" Lily said heatedly.

"Yeah, Severus!" joked Sirius.

Severus grinned.

**A/N: Another chapter done. Sorry for a kind of longish wait. But this was 57 PAGES on word! 57!! That has got to be the most yet! Hope you liked it.**** Oh, and one question. Do you all want me to keep writing the chapters one at a time, and post them as soon as i finish each chapter, so we'll probably have like one a week, or would you rather i finished writing all of it (Which would probably take about a month) or most of it, and then put them up one every day, or even two a day, or three at a time, or all at once or whatever. **

**now R-E-V-I-E-****W and tell me!!**


	14. That's not my name!

**A/N: Next chappie! Well, most everyone said that I should write and post as soon as I've finished the chapter, so that's what I'll do. Thanks to all my awesome reviewers, and to Sirius Leigh, littlemissgloom, MoonStarRaven, Killisandra, justame, Darkingfire, doing 25 life in Azkaban, AnahiyAlfonsoForever, Passionismywriting, murdrax, luckycharm0820, graco27, jcheetahgirl40, Santi-Tiago, eragonroxmysox and thefatlady44 for adding me to their faves/alerts!**

**ENJOY!**

"So what's the chapter called?" asked Sirius eagerly.

"Just let him read!"

"It's called Nicholas Flamel," Severus answered anyway.

"Finally! Now they'll find out about him!" James exclaimed.

"If they just looked at the stupid chocolate frog card –" Sirius began.

"Chocolate isn't stupid," Remus said loudly. "It's brilliant."

"Whatever," Sirius said, rolling his eyes. "If they'd just _looked _at it, they wouldn't have had to turn the library upside down."

"I can't believe I'm about to say this, but Sirius is actually right," James grinned.

The others made pretend-shocked faces.

"Thanks a lot," Sirius said sarcastically.

"You're welcome. And he is. If they had looked at it, they would've known it had something to do with alchemy, so they would've known where to look, instead of picking random books."

"Yeah. You've got a point," admitted Alice.

"Well, let's get reading! This is the last one!" Lily announced.

"Yeah, we know. You've said it about a million times already."

"Shut up, Padfoot, and let Severus read!"

"I will if you give me my wand back!"

"No!"

**NICOLAS FLAMEL**

**Dumbledore had convinced Harry not to go looking for the Mirror of Erised again**

"Good!**"**

**and for the rest of the Christmas holidays the Invisibility Cloak stayed folded at the bottom of Harry's trunk.**

"What! He isn't going to explore more!" James yelled in outrage.

"Relax, Prongs," Remus said. "he probably got a bit freaked out by that first use. If he's any bit like you he'll use it a lot more, don't you worry."

James grinned.

**Harry wished he could forget what he'd seen in the Mirror as easily, but he couldn't. He started having nightmares.**

"Nightmares? We are giving him nightmares?" James said indignantly.

"Yeah, you guys aren't _that _bad!" Sirius smirked.

"Shut up!" Lily and James both yelled at him.

**Over and over again he dreamed about his parents disappearing in a flash of green light while a high voice cackled with laughter.**

"Oh," James said in a quiet voice.

"We – we've given him nightmares!" Lily said sadly. The others looked at them sympathetically.

Sirius tried to grin. "Well, seeing your faces always gives me nightmares!" he joked, brightening the mood, but just barely.

**"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad," said Ron, when Harry told him about these dreams.**

They nodded solemnly.

**Hermione, who came back the day before term started, took a different view of things. She was torn between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed, roaming the school three nights in a row**

"Of course _that's _what bothers her," James said with a small grin. Sirius sighed with relief that James was no longer in "Serious" mode.

**("If Filch had caught you!")**

"Who cares?"

**and disappointment that he hadn't found out who Nicolas Flamel was.**

"Well, obviously they're going to this chapter," Tonks said.

"Did you figure that out all by yourself?" Sirius asked sarcastically. She stuck her tongue out at him.

**They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry was still sure he'd read the name somewhere.**

"You have! Just think!" Sirius exclaimed exasperatedly.

"You saying my son can't think?" James frowned.

Sirius grinned. "So what if I am?"

"Then you're a mangled old fleabag!"

"And that makes you a bloody demonic cockroach!"

"And you are a squishy little toad!"

"And you're a hairy, greasy, giant spider!"

"Stop it!" squealed Lily and Alice.

"That's just getting disgusting!" Tonks said.

James and Sirius grinned. "That's what makes it fun!" they both cried happily.

**Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry had even less time than the other two, because Quidditch practice had started again.**

"Woohooo! Go Quidditch!"

"Must be another match soon!" Sirius exclaimed.

"And I'll bet they win it!"

"Contrary to what you two believe," Lily said, rolling her eyes, "life doesn't just revolve around Quidditch!"

"Don't even say such horrible words!" James said dramatically.

"I'll pretend I didn't hear that, or else I might do something I'll regret!" Sirius cried, equally dramatically.

"Drama Queens!" Lily said angrily.

"Drama, yes. Queen, no!" James said. "Although, I guess Sirius might be a Queen, if he decides to go all the way and become a wo –"

"PRONGS! IF YOU DON'T KNOCK IT OFF, RIGHT NOW, I'LL –"

"You'll what? Hang me upside down? That's getting old, Paddy!"

"So are all the gay jokes, Prongs!"

"No they're not!" James said immediately. "Do any of you think they're getting old?" he asked the others.

"Nope, not really," Remus grinned.

"Not at all. Real amusing," Tonks replied just to annoy Sirius. She succeeded.

"Still funny," agreed Alice for the same reason.

"Hilarious," Severus nodded.

"Brilliant work," Frank chuckled.

"Well there you go!" James said, grinning broadly.

"Git."

"That's getting old too."

"No, git can never get old!"

"Can to!"

"Can not! We call everyone gits!"

"True. I'll give you that, then."

"Oh, thank you so very much!" Sirius said sarcastically.

"Shut up!"

"Both of you shut up!" Lily yelled. "We have to get through this chapter!"

"But, as we've pointed out before, Lily flower, it gets boring when we stop talking," James said sweetly.

"No, it just gets nice and peaceful!"

"Well, peaceful is no fun at all!" Sirius grinned.

"Look, I really don't want to Silence you –" she began, and they both shut up. "Wait, what am I saying? I really _do _want to Silence you!"

"Noooooooooooo –" began James, but he was Silenced before he could finish, followed by Sirius.

Sirius wrote with his wand, 'stop doing that!'

"How'd you get your wand back?" Lily demanded. And then she recalled that he had also sent James hanging in the air, so that meant he had taken it back a while ago.

'took you long enough to notice! got it from you ages and ages ago!' he wrote with a great big grin on his face.

"How do you _do _that?" Lily said angrily. "And I never even _notice _until he uses it!"

'simple. I'm a marauder!'

"I see Jimmy still doesn't have his own wand," Tonks said with a smirk.

James glared at her as he had never glared at anyone before.

"What?" asked Lily.

James mouthed the word – or rather, the name – "Jimmy"

'he hates being called jimmy even more than he hates being called Jamie!'

"Yup! That's why I call him Jimmy or Jamie!" Tonks smirked. James glared at her.

Lily laughed. James seized his chance to grab for his wand from Lily's pocket.

"In that case, Jimmy it is!" Alice said happily. James glared from her to Tonks. He looked ready to attack one of them!

Severus laughed. "Should i carry on?"

"Yeah. Just ignore Jimmy here," said Tonks.

"Knock it off!"

"Now you see how annoying your gay jokes are?" Sirius said.

**Wood was working them harder than ever. Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic, but Harry was on Wood's side.**

'Harry wants to win!' Sirius wrote.

James nodded his agreement. 'Course he does!' he wrote.

"You got your wand back _too_?" Lily said unhappily.

'Well, I am a Marauder too, after all!'

"Unfortunately," muttered Lily.

**If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years.**

'gooooooooooooooo Gryffindor!'

'yeah!'

**Quite apart from wanting to win, Harry found he had fewer nightmares when he was tired out after training.**

James looked at the book with a strange expression on his face. Lily sighed and looked at James, sitting beside her. She lifted the Silencing charm. He didn't notice.

**Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news. He'd just got very angry with the Weasleys, who kept dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms.**

James laughed, intending for it to be silent, but was surprised when he laughed out loud.

"When did I get my voice back?" he asked confusedly.

"I removed it just now," Lily smiled.

"Thanks!" he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek. Severus turned the lightest shade of red possible. Barely noticeable, in fact.

Sirius looked at her hopefully.

"No."

'pleeeeaseeee!'

"Nooo!"

'why?'

"Because you're annoying!"

'but im also fun!'

"He is, you have to admit," said Alice reluctantly.

Lily looked at her, half-angry, half-laughing, and lifted the Silencing charm.

"Yay!"

**"Will you stop messing around!" he yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time,**

Severus' jaw fell open in shock.

"But … but I hate Quidditch! I mean, I like it when we win and stuff, and I sometimes enjoy watching it … but flying? I have no idea why I would do that!" he said in shock.

James grinned.

"What?" asked Severus.

"Just the look on your face," smirked James.

**and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"**

"Hey!" Severus said indignantly.

"Well, won't you?"

"You know, I might just," Severus laughed.

**George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these words.**

"Isn't hurt, is he?" James asked worriedly.

**"Snape's refereeing?" he spluttered through a mouthful of mud.**

"Obviously not," James answered himself.

**"When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."**

"I can't be that bad, can I?" asked Severus.

"'Fraid you can, Severus," Sirius teased. "Just kidding!" he added at the glare he got from Lily.

**The rest of the team landed next to George to complain, too.  
"It's not my fault," said Wood. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, **

"Like that'll ever happen!" scoffed James.

"Not with the Weasley twins!"

**so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."**

"As long as Harry catches the snitch – which he's bound to do – they'll still win."

"You know," Remus said slowly, "maybe Severus wants to make sure nobody's jinxing Harry's broom again."

"Yeah!" Severus said immediately, thoroughly relieved. "That's got to be it!"

Sirius and James didn't look too convinced.

**Which was all very well, thought Harry, but he had another reason for not wanting Snape near him while he was playing Quidditch...The rest of the team hung back to talk to each other as usual at the end of practice, but Harry headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing chess.**

**Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.**

They grinned.

"Guess that brings her down to their level," beamed Sirius.

"Hardly," Lily scoffed, "but I guess it keeps her grounded."

"And Merlin, if anyone needs to be grounded it's her!" James exclaimed.

**"Don't talk to me for a moment," said Ron when Harry sat down next to him. "I need to concen-" He caught sight of Harry's face.**

"And that must be horrible, seeing as he's supposed to look like Jimmy here," Sirius mocked.

"OI! Stop it! And this coming from the gay dunghead who is currently –"

"I. Am. Not. Gay," Sirius said in a quiet but deadly voice. James sensed danger, and reluctantly stopped teasing his friend.

**"What's the matter with you? You look terrible."**

"Told you," grinned Sirius.

James gave him a sour look, but otherwise ignored the comment.

**Speaking quietly so that no one else could hear, Harry told the other two about Snape's sudden, sinister desire to be a Quidditch referee.**

"It's not sinister!" Severus cried.

**"Don't play," said Hermione at once.**

**"Say you're ill," said Ron.**

"I think I like their reactions," laughed James.

"Oh, come on! I'm not that bad!" Severus said angrily.

**"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.**

**"Really break your leg," said Ron.**

Sirius laughed. "Ron's got the right sort of idea, doesn't he?"

"He does not!" Lily said, irritated. "Harry is _not _going to cause himself pain!"

**"I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."**

"So he can't, then," James sighed.

"Hey, this is getting ridiculous," Severus said indignantly.

**At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognized at once as the Leg-Locker Curse.**

"Who did that to my son?" demanded Frank at once, looking angry for what must have been the first time since he had started to read with them.

"Easy there, mate!" James laughed. "No need to get upset."

"I can get upset if I want to! They're hurting my son!"

James thought to point out that Neville wasn't really _hurt, _but decided against it.

**He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.**

James and Sirius couldn't help but laugh, as Frank and Alice threw them dirty looks.

**Everyone fell about laughing except Hermione, **

Frank frowned.

**who leapt up and performed the counter-curse.**

"Bless her!" Alice said softly.

**Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet trembling.**

**"What happened?" Harmione asked him, leading him over to sit with Harry and Ron.**

**"Malfoy," said Neville shakily.**

"GIT!" cried Frank. "I'm going to murder him!"

**"I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."**

"Big git."

**"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged him. "Report him!"**

**Neville shook his head."I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.**

"You have to stand up to him, Neville!" cried Alice.

**"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron.**

Alice frowned slightly, but ignored it.

**"He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."**

"Yeah!" roared Frank angrily.

"Easy, Franky! Don't want you to murder anyone now," joked Sirius. Frank glared at him.

"My – name – is – not – _Franky_!" he said, lunging at Sirius. In his current, furious state, anything could push him over the edge, and Sirius knew that.

James burst out laughing as Sirius squealed.

"Nice. Very manly!" James gasped through his laughter.

"Argh! Get – off! Ow! Hurting – pain – can't breath – FRANK!"

Frank wasn't really punching Sirius. He was just sitting on his stomach and shoving him with his legs.

"Get off!" he gasped. "Heavy – Frank – dying – argh – no – help!" Frank laughed and finally got off. Sirius took a deep breath and lay they, shaking slightly.

"Why is it always me?" he gasped.

"Because you're the one that's most annoying," Frank told him. "And don't ever call me Franky angain!"

"What's wrong with Franky, Franky?" asked James. Frank turned to look at him.

"What did I _just_ say?"

"I dunno," grinned James. "Something about being called Franky.

Jimmy, why are you asking for him to kill you?" asked Tonks. James turn to yell at Tonks, but Frank tackled him and sat on top. "STOP CALLING ME THAT!"

"Geez!" said James. "What's so bad with you-know-what-name?"

"It's – only my mother calls me that!" Frank regretted saying those words as soon as they left his mouth.

James, Sirius, Remus, Tonks and Alice burst out laughing.

"Alright, people, that's enough!" Lily said eventually. "Frank, stop hitting James, and get off of him. Sirius, stop laughing already. Remus, get Sirius to stop laughing.

"How?"

"You'll think of something, I'm sure!"

Remus grinned evilly and Sirius gulped. Remus crept closer and began tickling him.

"ARGH! NOOOO! I'll be good! I'll be good! S – s –stoooooop!"

Remus stopped.

"Go on, Sev," said Lily.

Severus grinned and skimmed the page for where they were.

**"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor,**

"You are!" Frank and Alice said together.

**Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked.**

"Why that slimy little son –" Frank began.

"Frank!" Lily said in shock. "Don't tell me you're going to become like James now!" Franks shrugged and tried to relax, but failed.

"Hey, Lils," James said, "conjure him up one of those anger balls."

"That's stress balls, genius, and that's actually not a bad idea," she said, conjuring one up and tossing it to Frank.

"What do I do with this, chuck it at Sirius?" asked Frank, confused.

Lily grinned. "While that would be fun, that's not what it's meant for."

"You squeeze it and that's supposed to let out your anger," James answered.

"Doesn't always work that well though," Sirius added with a grin.

**Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Hermione had given him for Christmas. He gave it to Neville,**

"Awww," Alice cooed. "That's so sweet of him!"

"He's s great kid," Frank said a little happily.

"Thanks," grinned James.

"He obviously doesn't get that from Jimmy then," Remus said.

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah right! And stop calling me Jimmy!"

**who looked as though he might cry.**

Frank frowned.

**"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."**

"EXACTLY!" yelled James. "He's in stupid old Slytherin! Oops, no offence, Severus," he added hastily.

Severus smiled. "I've gotten used to it from you."

James sheepishly half-grinned back at him.

**Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile as he unwrapped the Frog.  
"Thanks, Harry ... I think I'll go to bed ... D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"**.

"And I'll bet this one will be Dumbledore's to let them know about Flamel!" James announced.

"Two Galleons?" asked Sirius.

"Definitely!"

"you're on!"

**As Neville walked away. Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card.  
"Dumbledore again,"**

"HAH! Give me my galleons!" demanded James.

"No!"

"What?"

"NO!"

"WHAT!"

"N-O NO!"

"You git! Give me my money!" James cried, jumping on top of Sirius.

"Who's the gay one now?" Sirius grinned while trying to throw James off.

"YOU! If you don't give me my money."

"Just give him his money. He won fare and square."

"No! Why should I?"

"Because I won it, you cheapskate!"

"Who are you callin' a cheapskate?"

"You!"

"Git!"

"You're the git! Give me my money."

"Give him his damn money, Padfoot!"

"No, Moony! He's taken enough from me already!"

"Then why'd you take the bet?" Remus asked.

"Yeah, why'd you take the bet, huh?" James demanded.

"Fine! I'll give you your stupid money. Now get off!"

"Good. Now give it."

"Here," Sirius said sourly, handing over the money.

"Good little doggy!"

"Doggy?" questioned Severus curiously.

"Nothing. Just an inside joke."

**he said. "He was the first one I ever -" He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he looked up at Ron and Hermione.**

"They found it! They found it! They found it!" yelled James happily.

**"I've found him!" he whispered. "I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here - listen to this: 'Professor Dumbledore is particualrly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"**

"Took 'em long enough!" Sirius said.

"Yeah. I knew they had to look at that frog card!"

**Hermione jumped to her feet. She hadn't looked so excited since they'd got back their marks for their very first piece of homework.**

James and Sirius snorted.

**"Stay there!" she said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Harry and Ron barely had time to exchange mystified looks before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms.**

**"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."**

"_Light_?" scoffed James.

"Didn't it say that it was an enormous book?" Sirius asked, startled.

"It sure did," Frank replied, laughing at the dumbstruck looks on their faces.

**"Light?" said Ron, but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself**.

**At last she found what she was looking for."I knew it! I knew it!"**

**"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily.**

Sirius and James chuckled.

**Hermione ignored him."Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically,**

"Like Prongs," muttered Remus under his breath.

**"is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"**

"Hooray! They've found it at last!" Sirius cried, jumping up and down.

**This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected.**

"Crap they don't know what a Philosopher's Stone is!"

**"The what?" said Harry and Ron.**

**"Oh, honestly, don't you two read?**

"Yes, but they read a normal amount," James said, annoyed. "They're not crazy about reading like some people."

**Look - read that, there."  
She pushed the book towards them, and Harry and Ron read:**

_**The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosopher's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold.**_

"Blimey. _Pure gold?_ Just imagine!" Sirius said breathlessly.

"Yeah," James grinned with a distant look on his face.

"OI! Snap out of it. We've got a book to read!" Remus said.

_**It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.**_

They gasped.

"No way!"

"_Immortal?_ As in I'm-never-gonna-_die_ Immortal?" Sirius asked in shock.

"Yes. How many other descriptions are there of immortal?"

_**There have been many reports of the Philosopher's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera-lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year,**_

"Merlin that's old!" said James in awe.

"No kidding, genius!" Sirius teased.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"Not this again!" Lily exclaimed tiredly. "Let's just get through this one last chapter without me getting a headache, please?"

"Fine!"

_**enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).**_

"Nice of him to share his elixir," laughed Sirius.

"Weird name. Perenelle," James pointed out.

"So?"

"Just saying. It's weird."

"Weird isn't always a bad thing."

"True. We're living proof of that!" James smirked**.**

**"See?" said Hermione, when Harry and Ron had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it. **

"Yeah, that'll be it!" James nodded.

**That's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"**

"Good thing too!" Sirius said. "It was robbed the day they emptied it!"

**"A stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."**

"I am not after it!" Severus said, upset.

"Doesn't matter how many times you say it, Severus. The book can't hear you," James told him.

"Still!"

**"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron.**

Sirius snorted. "Not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

**"He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"**

"Why are you copying me?" Sirius frowned at Severus.

"I'm not! That's what it says in the book! Ron said that, not me."

"I knew they were meant for each other!" James beamed.

"Shut up!"

**Next morning in Defence Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites,**

"They can be treated now!" Remus asked in amazement, looking hopeful. Severus grinned broadly.

"I knew it!" he cried. " I knew it! And you didn't believe me!" he added to Lily. " I knew he was a –"

"LA LA LA!" Sirius yelled suddenly. Severus widened his eyes.

"Have you gone mad, Black?" he asked.

"No. It's just …" he tilted his head towards a scowling Tonks.

"oooh," said Severus slowly. "I see. Alright then."

**Harry and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Philosopher's Stone if they had one.**

"Boys," Alice said, rolling her eyes.

"Yup," sighed Lily, looking at James and Sirius, who were having the same conversation as Ron and Harry.

" – The best broom ever!" James finished with a grin.

"Yeah! And I would buy a Quidditch team. Maybe England!"

"Awesome idea! And we would live forever, so we don't need to worry about dying, so we can try out all our ideas!" James exclaimed.

"Yeah! I've been dying to try out MWPP 14!" Sirius yelled.

"What's MWPP 14?" asked Tonks curiously.

"Nothing!" James and Sirius said immediately.

"It's way too dangerous!" Remus gasped. "No way!"

"Yes way! This one's gotta work! I know what we did wrong the last times!" James said eagerly.

"Argh! Either tell us what you're talking about, or stop talking!"

"Guess we have to stop talking then," James said.

"Or we could just ignore them," Sirius said.

"Nah. She looks like she might kill us now."

"Good point. Let's shut up."

"Yeah."

**It wasn't until Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team**

"Look, he had the same idea as you!" James cried.

"so?"

"If only he was born now!" James grinned.

"What are you – Oh Merlin, just drop it already!"

**that Harry remembered about Snape and the coming match.**

**"I'm going to play," he told Ron and Hermione. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them ... it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."**

"Yeah! He'll show them!"

**"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the pitch," said Hermione.**

"ooh," cringed James. "She just had to go and say that, didn't she?"

"Yup," sighed Sirius.

**As the match drew nearer, however, Harry became more and more nervous, whatever he told Ron and Hermione. The rest of the team weren't too calm, either. The idea of overtaking Slytherin in the House Championship was wonderful, no one had done it for nearly seven years**

"Every time they say that, I think a little part of me dies," James said dramatically.

"Oh, shut up!"

**but would they be allowed to, with such a biased referee?**

Severus shook his head.

**Harry didn't know whether he was imagining it or not, but he seemed to be running into Snape wherever he went.**

"That's weird," said James, looking accusingly at Severus.

"What? Maybe I'm trying to look out for him! Ever thought of that?" Severus said defensively and heatedly.

**At times, he wondered whether Snape was following him, trying to catch him on his own. Potions lessons were turning into a sort of weekly torture, Snape was so horrible to Harry.**

Severus grimaced. James looked livid.

**Could Snape possibly know they'd found out about the Philosopher's Stone?**

"Doubt it," James said angrily. "Probably just wants to be mean to Harry."

"Hey!"

"Well, what do you think it is?"

"I could – It – Maybe – I don't know yet!"

**Harry didn't see how he could - yet he sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds.**

"That's Legilimency. And you know what, I do want to learn it. I have an uncle who says he'll teach me once I'm of age, and that's only in a couple more months!" Severus said excitedly.

**Harry knew, when they wished him good luck outside the changing rooms next afternoon, that Ron and Hermione were wondering whether they'd ever see him alive again.**

"Oh that's nice!" Severus snorted.

"He wouldn't do anything right in front of the whole school," Remus said reasonably.

"Thank you!" Severus cried, relieved.

**This wasn't what you'd call comforting.**

"But what isn't comforting about thinking you'll never see someone alive again?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

**Harry hardly heard a word of Wood's pep talk as he pulled on his Quidditch robes and picked up his Nimbus two Thousand.  
Ron and Hermione, meanwhile, had found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried,**

"Could've told him," Frank muttered.

"Yes, but he's not exactly their best friend, you know? And besides, they didn't want to worry too many people," James said.

**or why they had both brought their wands to the match.**

"well, why shouldn't you take your wand?" Sirius asked. "You're supposed to take 'em everywhere!"

"Yeah. Never let my wand out of my sight!" James announced somewhat proudly.

**Little did Harry know that Ron and hermione had been secretly practicing the Leg-Locker Curse. They'd got the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville,**

"Hey!" Alice squealed.

**and were ready to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt Harry.**

"Hey!" Severus yelled indignantly."I'd fall off my broom!"

**"Now, don't forget, it's Locomotor Mortis," Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve.  
"I know," Ron snapped. "Don't nag."**

"She can't help it. It's in her nature."

"What, to nag?" Lily scoffed.

"Yes!" answered James.

**Back in the changing room, Wood had taken Harry aside.  
"Don't want to pressure you, Potter,**

"That never works. There's always pressure," James half-laughed.

**but if we ever need an early capture of the snitch it's now.**

"Yeah, that's no pressure at all!" Sirius snorted.

**Finish the game before Snape can favour Hufflepuff too much."**

"You can't just catch the snitch because you _have _to!" James cried. "He'll get it when he does! But, seeing as he's such an awesome seeker, He's gonna get it no matter what!"

**"The whole school's out there!" said Fred Weasley, peering out of the door.**

"Aren't they always?" asked Tonks.

"Not really. Just most of the school," Sirius replied.

**"Even - blimey - Dumbledore's come to watch!"**

"Dumbledore's there!" James said happily. "Now we know for sure that he's safe!"

"I'm telling you, I'm not going to hurt him!" Severus cried exasperatedly.

**Harry's heart did a somersault.  
"Dumbledore?" he said, dashing to the door to make sure. Fred was right. There was no mistaking that silver beard.**

They grinned.

"There's none like it!"

**Harry could have laughed out loud with relief. He was safe. There was simply no way Snape would dare to try and hurt him if Dumbledore was watching.**

Severus just sighed.

**Perhaps that was why Snape was looking so angry as the teams marched onto the pitch, something that Ron had noticed, too. "I've never seen Snape look so mean," he told Hermione. "Look - they're off. Ouch!"  
Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.**

"Poke him back!" snapped James.

"Twice!" added Sirius.

**"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there." Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.**

"Bloody hell! He's even worse than Lucius! And I didn't think that was possible!" Sirius cried.

**"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time?**

"Longer than you ever could, you big fat wart!" James yelled heatedly.

"Easy, Jimmy. Don't want you to explode now," Sirius teased. James glared at him

"Never. Again. Not. Jimmy!"

**Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"**

**Ron didn't answer; Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit a Bludger at him.**

"What?"

"Well, I admire George for his guts," Sirius grinned, earning him an odd look from Severus.

**Hermione, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap, **

"Like that's gonna make a difference!"

**was squinting fixedly at Harry, who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the Snitch.**

"He'll find it," James said confidently.

**"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all.**

Severus shook his head, muttering something.

"What the hell, man!" James yelled.

**"It's the people they feel sorry for.**

"He did NOT just say that!" roared James. "oh, I will kill his father just so that this scum isn't born if he said that!"

"I'll bloody well help you!" Sirius said, almost equally enraged.

**See, there's Potter, who's got no parents,**

"That fu –"

"James!"

**then there's the weasleys, who've got no money -**

"Why that slimy little- I'll kill them him! I'll kill him!" James looked truly dangerous.

"Easy Jimmy," Sirius said, trying to sooth James as well as himself, but also trying to add a joke. James didn't really notice the "Jimmy"

**you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."**

"That's it," James said as Frank yelled out in rage. "Punch the slimy bag of filch! Punch him! Break his bloody effing nose!"

"Yeah! Then punch him again!" Frank yelled angrily.

Lily was torn between disapproval of hitting someone, and her own anger, which may have been quieter but no less than that of James.

**Neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face Malfoy. "I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.**

"Tell him, son!" Frank cried.

**Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said, "You tell him, Neville."**

**"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."**

James was beginning to shake with anger, and Frank looked very similar as he squeezed his stress ball to death.

"It's – not – bloody – stupid – Argh!" yelled Frank, throwing the ball. "Bloody useless ball!"

Alice looked angry as well, but she managed to control it. Somehow.

**Ron's nerves were already stretched to breaking point with anxiety about Harry.  
"I'm warning you, Malfoy - one more word -"**

**"Ron!" said Hermione suddenly. "Harry -!"**

"Oh, bloody hell! What happened? WHAT HAPPENED?" cried James anxiously, standing up ad starting to pace.

**"What? Where?"**

"What's going on?"asked Lily anxiously.

**Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crosses fingers in her mouth, as Harry streaked towards the ground like a bullet.**

"Thank Merlin it's just the snitch," sighed James, letting out a breath he hadn't been aware he was holding and sitting back down. "Wait, the snitch? HE'S FOUND THE SNITCH! GOOOOO HARRY!" he yelled, jumping up again.

**"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.**

"That was a cheap shot!"

R**on snapped.**

"Finally!" Sirius cried.

"Go and punch him now!" James said hopefully.

**Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground.**

"Woohooo! Go Ron!" cried Sirius and James.

**Neville hesitated, then clambered over the back of his seat to help.**

"Go Neville!" Frank said, happy that his son was doing something.

**"Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed, leaping off her seat to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape -**

"Uh –" began James.

"Oh," finished Sirius.

"I'm not going to do anything!"

**she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe and Goyle.**

"That's not fair! Two against one!" Alice said, barely maintaining her anger.

"Brave of Neville, though," said James.

**Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches - next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.**

"Yeeeessssssssssss!" cried James and Sirius.

"My son is the best! That couldn't have been even five minutes!"

"That's got to be a record of some sort! No way has the snitch ever been caught that quickly before!" Sirius said happily.

**The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.**

"Yes! My son set a bloody record!"

**"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor are in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Parvati Patil in the row in front.**

"She's surprisingly happy for someone not that into Quidditch," Lily said.

"Well, she wants Gryffindor to win, doesn't she!" James said gleefully.

**Harry jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. He couldn't believe it. He'd done it - the game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes.**

"Awesome!"

**As Gryffindors came spilling on to the pitch, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped - then Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore's smiling face. "Well done," said Dumbledore quietly, so that only Harry could hear.**

"Even Dumbledore's impressed!" James said, more proud than he ever thought that he could be.

**"Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that mirror ...**

"Merlin, I forgot all about that stupid thing!"

"Of course you did. You have a memory span of a goldfish, Paddy!" James teased.

"And how would you know what the memory span of a goldfish is?" asked Sirius, throwing some snow at James.

"I just do. It's three seconds!" James yelled, dodging the snow and throwing more back.

**been keeping busy ... excellent ..."**

**Snape spat bitterly on the ground.**

Severus shook his head. "When did I ever get that interested in winning?"

**Harry left the changing room alone some time later, to take his Nimbus Two Thousand back to the broomshed. He couldn't ever remember feeling happier.**

"That's his happiest memory?" Lily said sadly. "That's so sad."

"Why? Quidditch is awesome!" James cried.

"Yeah," Remus agreed. "But I don't think it would make much of a Patronus, either!"

"You know about Patronuses?" asked Severus.

"Yup."

"Can you make one?"

"Yeah."

"What form is it?"

"wolf." (A/N I don't know if they mention this in any of the books, so I made it up)

Severus grinned.

**He'd really done something to be proud of now –**

"And defeating Voldemort isn't something to be proud of?" Remus said.

Severus cringed a bit at Voldemort's name.

"Well, he doesn't even remember that, Remus," Lily said, shuddering slightly.

**no one could say he was just a famous name any more. The evening air had never smelled so sweet.**

"Always smells great when we win!"

**He walked over the damp grass, reliving the last hour in his head, which was a happy blur: Gryffindors running to lift him on to their shoulders; Ron and Hermione in the distance, jumping up and down, Ron cheering through a heavy nosebleed.**

"Must have been a decent fight then," Sirius said, nodding approvingly.

"Wonder how the others came out of the fight," James said thoughtfully. "Reckon they were bleeding?"

"Yeah," said Frank. "I reckon my son and Ron would be a decent match. Well, if it were a fair fight at least."

**Harry had reached the shed. He leaned against the wooden door and looked up at Hogwarts, with its windows glowing red in the setting sun. Gryffindor in the lead. He'd done it, he'd shown Snape ... And speaking of Snape ... A hooded figure came swiftly down the front steps of the castle.**

"A hooded figure?"

**Clearly not wanting to be seen, it walked as fast as possible towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry's victory faded from his mind**

James gasped comically.

**mind as he watched. He recognised the figure's prowling walk.**

"Merlin, it's me, isn't it?" Severus sighed.

**Snape was sneaking into the Forest while everyone else was at dinner -**

"Crap."

**- what was going on? Harry jumped back on his Nimbus Two Thousand and took off.**

"Let's hope he isn't caught, then."

**Gliding silently over the castle he saw Snape enter the Forest at a run. He followed. The trees were so thick he couldn't see where Snape had gone. He flew in circles, lower and lower, brushing the top branches of trees until he heard voices. He glided towards them and landed noiselessly in a towering beech tree. He climbed carefully along one of the branches, holding tight to his broomstick, trying to see through the leaves.**

**Below, in a shadowy clearing, stood Snape, but he wasn't alone. Quirrell was there, too.**

"Quirrell?"

"Why am I talking to him?" asked Severus.

"You tell us."

"Hey, maybe Quirrell " began Remus slowly, but Sirius cut him off.

"Let me guess, you think _he's_ after the stone, don't you Moony?"

"Matter of fact, I was just about to say that!"

"But that's ludicrous!"

"Why?"

"Because! He's a bloody coward of a Defense teacher. What makes you think that wimp could have the nerve to do something like this?"

"You never know. I just doubt Severus is after it!"

Severus looked at him gratefully.

**Harry couldn't make out the look on his face, but he was stuttering worse than ever.**

"Poor guy," said Sirius. "I remember him. He doesn't stutter now, though, does he?"

"Don't think so. What year is he in, again?" James asked.

"Fourth, I believe," Remus said.

"Yeah. How'd he become Defense teacher? He's a right coward!" Sirius cried.

"How do you know that?" asked Alice.

"We were under the cloak once, and we started talking, and he was there, and he bolted, thinking it was a ghost or someting. Bloody coward. And look, he's cowering in front of Snape!" Sirius explained.

"Hey!"

"Well, it's the truth. Honestly, that guy needs to grow a pair, you know?" James said.

**Harry strained to catch what they were saying. "... d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus ..."**

"Will you listen to that! Coward if ever I saw one!"

"But you aren't seeing him, mate," Sirius corrected James.

"Whatever. You know what I meant!"

"Actually, I don't."

"Shut up. You do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"DO NOT!"

"DO TOOOOO!"

"DO NOO- " Sirius made a choking motion and his voice was taken away by Lily's well-practiced wand. James was happy to know that he hadn't been Silenced.

"HAH!"

"Don't make me Silence you too!"

**said Snape, his voice icy. "Students aren't supposed to know about the Philosopher's Stone after all."**

"Uh-oh. He knows that they know about the Stone?" asked Sirius.

"Must do."

**Harry leant forward. Quirrell was mumbling something. Snape interrupted him.**

**"Have you found out how to get past that beast of Hagrid's yet?"**

Severus gasped. The others looked at him oddly.

"What are you trying to –?" began James, but Severus interrupted him.

"I don't know!" he sighed almost angrily. "What the hell am I _doing?_"

"I'm not too sure. Might not be you trying to steal the Stone after all," Remus said slowly. Severus smiled slightly, but the others, excluding Lily, gave Remus questioning looks behind Severus' back.

**"B-b-but Severus, I -"**

**"You don't want me as your enemy, Quirrell," said Snape,**

"We did," said James automatically, grinning broadly. Severus half-smiled.

**taking a step towards him.**

**"I-I don't know what you -"**

**"You know perfectly well what I mean."**

**An owl hooted loudly and Harry nearly fell out of the tree. **

"Bloody hell! Don't fall!" James yelled.

**He steadied himself in time to hear Snape say, "- your little bit of hocus pocus.**

"What?" they all said.

"Hocus pocus? Does that mean magic?"

"Guess so."

**I'm waiting."**

"For …?"

**"B-but I d-d-don't -"**

**"Very well," Snape cut in.**

"He's not giving Quirrell time to answer properly!"

Severus shook his head. He didn't want to become the person described in the book.

**We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."**

"What's that supposed to mean?"

**He threw the cloak over his head and strode out of the clearing. It was almost dark now, but Harry could see Quirrell, standing quite still as though he was pertrfied.**

"What a wimp!" said James.

**"Harry, where have you been?" Hermione squeaked.**

**"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back.**

"Yes I think Harry realizes that, seeing as he was the one that caught the snitch!"

**"And I gave Malfoy a black eye**

"Woooohoooooooooo!" yelled James happily.

'Awesome!' wrote Sirius with his wand.

"Wow, I almost forgot he was here, since he hadn't written anything in so long!" Lily said in amazement.

"Well, that's certainly a first!" Alice laughed.

"Sure is!"

'hey!' wrote Sirius. 'actually, thats true!'

"Apostrophe, Padfoot," James reminded.

'git!'

"Boggart!"

'giant squid!'

"Cool!" James said. Sirius shook his head.

"Stop it, we don't have time for this!" Lily scolded. "Merlin, I feel like a bloody baby-sitter!"

"A what?" asked James, appalled. "Muggles sit on _babies?_"

Lily burst out laughing. "Of course not!"

"Well, then what?"

"They are people who are paid to look after children when the parents go out or want a break from the kids."

"If mom knew about those, I would have had a million of them!" James cried. "She says she needs a break from me all the time!"

"I'm not surprised!"

"Somehow, neither am I!" James grinned.

**and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed!**

Frank grinned, but Alice looked worried.

"He- he's alright though, right?" she asked quietly.

**He's still out cold but**

Alice shrieked. "My son!"

"Calm down, Alice. There's a but!" James said, before starting to laugh again.

"What's so funny?"

"There's a but … Hah!"

"Immature idiot!"

"I don't think I want to go out with such an immature boy," Lily said, not looking at James. James stared at her and immediately shut up, sat a little straighter, and folded his arms. Lily smirked.

**but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right - talk about showing Slytherin!**

"Thank God!" Alice sighed.

**Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."**

"Nicking food from the kitchens isn't exactly hard," James said as though he were an expert, which he pretty much was. "The elves might well be begging you to take food!"

'still, theyre so much like us' wrote Sirius, sighing happily but silently.

"I think he's in love!" sighed James.

Sirius glared at him, but before he could write anything back, Lily disarmed him. He then turned to glare at her.

"Sorry, but it's getting to be too late!"

**"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this ..."  
He made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them what he'd seen and heard.**

**"So we were right, it is the Philosopher's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it.**

Severus moaned.

"Shouldn't be too hard to get Quirrell to help; he's a bloody wimp!"

**He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy - and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus pocus' - I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy,**

"Well, there has to be!" Lily said.

"Yeah. Because _anyone_ can get past a giant three-headed dog, right?" scoffed James.

"No, but if you know how to, like I'm sure Hagrid does, then it would be!"

"Oh. I see your point."

**loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell which Snape needs to break through -"**

Severus looked somewhere between wanting to kill himself and wanting to kill someone else, but he kept reading.

**"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.**

James snorted. "If that's the case, it'll be gone within a week!"

"Merlin, I hope he doesn't take it!"

"I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT!" yelled Severus, finally cracking.

"Good for you. It's better if you let it all out. Just like me and Padfoot here always do."

Severus sighed.

**"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.**

"That's the way to think positive!" Remus said sarcastically.

"Alright. That's the end of the chapter," Severus announced quietly.

"Alright, let's go back in then."

"One more chapter?" pleaded James. "Just one?"

"Yeah, one more!" Tonks beamed.

"No! We can barely even see in this light!"

"We can use lumos!"

"No!"

"But –"

"No, James!"

"Fine!"

Sirius jumped up and down to draw attention to himself. Lily sighed and removed the Silencing charm.

"Finally. I almost forgot what my voice sounded like!"

"I don't think that's possible, Sirius," Tonks said, rolling her eyes.

"You're probably right," he grinned.

They all got up and began walking away when James said suddenly, "Crap!"

"What?"

"We've got to take away all this bloody snow!"

"Oh yeah! We almost forgot!" Sirius said. "But I'll need my wand to help!"

"You know what, I think we can all manage without your help!"

"Hey!"

And the snow was gone within a few seconds, and they headed back to the castle, James with his arm around Lily, Sirius yelling on her other side for his wand, Severus walking beside him, and Remus and Tonks laughing at Sirius behind them, with Frank and Alice holding hands, bringing up the rear.

**A/N: Alright, not that long. Sorry! Just 32 pages on word. My bad. But I think I've hit a bit of a stand-still for some reason, because I'm busy with some other stuff. Any suggestions would be nice. And I usually use them. And one more thing! I almost forgot to mention that I'm looking for a beta. I might have just searched, but I want one that reads my fic already. So if any of you are betas, I would love to have you proof my chapters! I think I don't have too many mistakes now, but you are never critical enough of your own work, so please! Contact me, preferably not through a review, but by a PM. Thanks!**

**But still give me a R-E-V-I-E-W!!**


	15. Attack Sirius Black Day

**A/N: Hey guys! I was a little later than usual with this one, but voila! Here it is! As usual, I want to thank Mia-Minamino-Namikaze-Uchiha, littlemissgloom, Ihateslashes (You know, some slashes aren't that bad), Lily O'Rowan, Lady of the Deep, kminhas223, jcheetahgirl40, Fustella, ateries, Emeraldstarzz, pinkyroo, Chite and Izzie Stevens (Go Grey's Anatomy!) for adding me to their Alerts/Faves, and all my amazing reviewers! Special thanks to ****murdrax**** for the amazing idea! I don't know how you came up with it, but thanks a lot for telling me! Also, I'd like to thank a friend who remains nameless about the idea for Murphy's Law.**

They all said good night to Severus as he made his way down to the dungeons, and walked slowly to Gryffindor Tower, talking loudly as they went.

"What was the password again?" Sirius asked as they approached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"You've already forgotten?" scoffed Alice.

"It's devil's snare, genius!" Tonks said and the portrait swung open. Sirius shrugged and walked in first.

"Lady's first, idiot!" James scolded him, pulling Sirius back by the scruff if his neck to let Lily go in first.

"You little git!" Sirius said angrily. James hit him on the head. As soon as Lily and Alice had entered, James went in.

"What happened to ladies first?" Tonks asked.

"Were there any more ladies left?" James asked, pretending to be confused.

"HEY!" yelled Tonks as Sirius began laughing. "That's not funny!"

"Yes, Nymphadora, it is," James assured her.

"Stop that, Jimmy!"

"Hey!"

"Knock it off," Lily said. "Let's just get into the common room in peace!"

They climbed in and James raced Sirius to the best armchair by the fire. James got their first with a loud, "HAH!"

Sirius tripped him out of the chair with his leg and sat down with an even louder, "HAH!"

James moaned and sat in another armchair. Lily laughed and sat on another chair. James motioned her over and she sighed and sat on the arm of his chair. James grinned happily.

"Well, it's getting late," began Frank.

"No it's not!" said James and Sirius.

"Well, I'm tired. I'm going to bed."

"Me too," Alice said, heading for the stairs with Frank.

"Aww, come on. Let's talk for a bit."

"Why?"

"I dunno."

"Come on. Let's go."

"I'm going too," Lily said, getting up.

"No!" James moaned, holding her arm and pulling her onto his lap. Lily tried to look angry but she couldn't help smiling. James gave her a kiss and grudgingly headed for bed.

When they got to their dorm, Peter was snoring in his bed. He had gone to bed surprisingly early. They stayed up quite late, talking about Harry, Severus, Quidditch, Ron and Hermione, and quite a bit about the Weasley twins, much to Sirius' dismay.

"I reckon we're way better pranksters than them, right?" James said.

"'Course we are!" Remus assured him.

"They did find that hidden passageway pretty early, though. They could be a threat," Sirius said.

"A threat?" James scoffed. "A threat to what?"

"US! And our reputation!"

"But … Sirius … you do realize that they're not even _born _yet, right," James said slowly.

Sirius flushed. "'Course I knew that!"

"Yeah, sure Paddy!"

"Hey!"

There were a lot more similar conversations before they finally went to sleep. They didn't really need to worry about waking Peter; he was such a heavy sleeper, he could probably sleep through fireworks.

The three of them woke up the next morning astonishingly early and sat in the common room waiting for Lily, Tonks, Frank and Alice to get up.

"Merlin, it's taking them long enough. How late do they sleep?" complained James.

"Prongs, you usually sleep until like eleven on weekends! It's only seven thirty! Give them time," Remus said, settling in to an armchair.

"Why can't we just read now, without them?" moaned Sirius impatiently.

"Padfoot! We can't read without the others!" Remus scolded him.

"Why not? I'm dying to read more of it!"

"Patience is a virtue."

"Patience is what?"

"A virtue. Didn't you hear that phrase in Muggle Studies or something?" Remus asked.

"Moony, what did I tell you about me and Muggle Studies? I only listen to the _interesting _parts!"

"Oh, right. How could I have forgotten?" Remus said sarcastically. "And anyway, Lily took the book."

"Well, " Sirius began, but James interrupted.

"About time!" he yelled as Lily and Alice made their way into the common room, closely followed by Tonks.

"You guys are up?" Alice asked, shocked.

"Yes, we are. And we would like to continue reading the book!"

"Alright, here it is," Lily said, holding it out.

"Brilliant! I'm reading first!" called James.

"Are not!" Tonks complained. "I called it last night! I'm going first!"

"I'm going after her then!"

"And I'm after Prongs!" Sirius yelled.

"Quiet down! Do you want to wake up the entire castle?" Lily asked.

"Whatever, let's get on with it!" James urged.

"Wait! What about Severus?" asked Remus.

"What about him?" Sirius said.

"He's got to read with us!" Lily reminded him.

"Crap. Now we have to wait for him too?"

"But how? We can't go into the Slytherin common room!"

"Well, I guess we'll wait by the dungeons, then," Lily said.

James groaned, then an idea struck him. "I've got an idea." He pulled out the Marauders' Map, whispered something to it and tapped it, and looked around for the dot labeled Severus Snape.

"Yes! He's already up!" Sirius exclaimed.

"He's in the –" began James.

"Library?" Sirius finished in disgust.

"Yes. Some people like to read, remember?" Alice teased him.

"But this early? On a weekend?" scoffed James, swiping the map clean and putting it away.

"That _is_ a bit much," Alice said hesitantly.

"Wow!"

"What?"

"I just can't believe you agreed with me!"

"Shut up, Jimmy!"

"Don't call me that!"

"Why not?"

"Because it's annoying!"

"That's the point, Jimmy. To annoy you."

"Fine! Er – Mrs. Longbottom!" James yelled. Alice blushed.

"Oh, sure, tell everyone about it!" Frank said.

"What? No one's even here!"

"Still."

"Whatever. Let's go to the library already!" Sirius moaned.

"I never thought I'd hear a fellow Marauder say that!" Remus grinned. Sirius made a face and led the way out of the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"What are you doing up so early?" she asked, annoyed. Apparently, they had woke her up.

"Is it against the rules to wake up early?" Sirius called as he walked away with the others.

"Why do you always annoy her?" Remus asked.

"I don't know. It's fun."

"And you wonder why she doesn't let you in sometimes!" James laughed, whacking him on the head.

"Hey! What was that for?"

"Fun!"

"Idiots," Lily sighed.

"And proud of it!" they both chanted.

"Is that like the Marauder code or something?"

"No, it's our motto. Idiots, and proud of it!" Sirius grinned.

"The Marauder code is completely different!" James said seriously.

"Unfortunately, they're telling the truth," Remus sighed.

"Yay! The library!" Sirius yelled, running in and hastily stopping as Madame Pince stared daggers at him.

"Smooth!" James whispered to him.

"Shut it!"

"So where is he?" asked Remus.

"Umm … I dunno. Let's just have a look around."

"There he is! Wait, in the divination section?" Remus frowned.

"Hello there, Severus," James called.

"This is a library, boy!" Madam Pince called from over his shoulder. How she got there so fast was inexplicable.

"Stupid cow. Well, anyway. Let's get on with the book, Severus!" James said impatiently.

Severus didn't move.

"Uh … Hello? Severus!"

"What are you reading?" asked Lily, sitting opposite him. James gave a heavy sigh and sat down beside her.

"Mysteries of divination?" Alice frowned.

"Yes."

"Why?" asked Sirius, genuinely confused.

"Because."

"Because what?"

"Lily said the book appeared in this section of the library."

"Sooo …?"

"So, I thought I might find something out about that. I mean, don't you think it's odd that a book about all of us just_ happened_ to be exactly where Lily was looking?"

"Well …" began James, uncertain of what to say. "I just didn't –"

"Think about it? Yeah. Thought so."

"Hey!" James yelled, before hastily looking around for Madam Pince, who was glaring at them.

"So what did you find?" Lily asked before a fight could start.

"Listen to this.

_Powerful wizards are known to have traveled to the past to plant things for others to find that are vital in changing or possibly enabling the future … These wizards risk being found and exposed, which would lead to great consequences ... For this reason, it would not be wrong to believe that the item being planted would be of great importance, and without it the future from whence the traveler came would be greatly disrupted or disturbed, or that the item could greatly benefit the future."_

"I don't get it," said James immediately.

"What's not to get?" asked Severus. "Someone obviously put that book here for Lily to find so we could read it! And it's got to make a big impact on the future if we read it!"

"Er – yeah, I knew that!" James said.

"No you didn't!"

"Shut up!"

"Shut up for a minute!" Remus said, thinking carefully about the words from the book. "So this book is going to have a great impact on the future?"

"Must be," Severus said.

"But … how? The only difference I can see that might be made is that these two, " he pointed at Lily and James, "might not die."

They beamed.

"Woohoo! I'm not gonna die!"

"Mr. Potter!" came Madam Pince's shrill voice.

"What's wrong? It's not like anyone else is even here!" James cried. She stalked off angrily.

"Stupid woman. Honestly, what's her problem?"

"She loves books too much," Sirius said wisely.

"Back to the issue at hand. That is the only difference I can see, but since we don't even know when or how it happened, and the rest of this book doesn't seem likely to tell us …" Remus said.

"Maybe there are other books?" Tonks suggested. "Of his other years in Hogwarts."

"Could be," nodded Frank.

"Well, either way, does it matter right now? Let's just keep reading!" Sirius said a bit too loudly. Madam Pince, still hovering nearby, gave him a dirty look.

"Don't you get how important this could be?" Severus whispered.

"Honestly … no!" Sirius said moodily.

"Let's just go read. It won't do us any good to just sit here," Lily said. Sirius grinned.

"Fine. Where?" asked Severus. "In the grounds?"

"Nah, too many people there. And P – er – someone could hear us," Lily said.

"So where?"

"The Room of Requirement," James answered.

"The what?"

"Come, we'll show you."

They made their way to the seventh floor corridor opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy.

"What are we doing here? Admiring the tapestry?" Severus scoffed.

"Shh. Just watch," Lily said as James began walking in front of the wall.

"No way!" Sirius yelled, stopping James. "This time _I'm _doing it!"

James grumbled but let Sirius walk in front of the wall.

"I still don't understa – _oh!_"

"Newcomers first," James grinned, letting Severus go in, followed by the girls, but he went in before Tonks could. Tonks glared at him as he walked in. She walked in after him, followed by Sirius, Frank and Remus. They entered a very different room. The chairs, beanbags and sofas were still there, but the ceiling was exceptionally low, just about a foot or two above Sirius' head, and he was the tallest one there. James grinned at him.

"What is this place?" asked an amazed Severus.

"Funny how everyone asks that question," James grinned.

"It's the Room of –" began Sirius.

"Yes, I know what it's called. But what _is _it?"

"It's a room …"

"Yes, believe it or not I got that too."

"That turns into whatever you need it to be."

"Really?"

"Why do you ask if you're not going to believe us?" Sirius asked.

"It's really amazing. How did you find this place?"

"Everyone asks that too," sighed Sirius.

"Me and Paddy discovered it Second year."

"Pretty awesome, isn't it?" Sirius grinned, before more detailed questions could be asked.

"It is."

"Why is the ceiling so low?" asked Alice.

"For my sake!" Sirius said dramatically. James snorted.

"Can you believe that some people go all seven years without _ever _finding it?" Sirius added disbelievingly.

"Well, we probably wouldn't have found it if it weren't for you!"

They grinned. "True!"

"Alright, enough talking. Let's get on with the book!" Tonks exclaimed, dying to read again.

"Alright. Here's the book," Lily said, handing over the book.

"Which chapter was it, again?" asked Tonks.

"Thirteen," said Sirius confidently.

"No, it was fourteen you idiot!" James said, taking a seat beside Lily on a sofa. Sirius sat on his other side on a beanbag with Tonks. Remus was not far away on an armchair, and Alice and Frank sat on another sofa, and Severus sat on an armchair on Lily's other side, so they formed a sort of circle.

**Norbert the Norwegian Ridgeback**

"That's a dragon!" Sirius yelled excitedly.

"Oh my God! That's a bloody dragon! We have got to get a dragon too!" James yelled.

"NO!" yelled everyone else.

"Spoilsports!" James moaned, before stopping to think (a very rare thing). "Wait. You don't suppose Hagrid … ?"

"Yeah!" yelled Sirius.

"Noo!" Alice gasped. "He couldn't have!"

"Well, who else do you think would get a dragon? Ron?" scoffed Sirius.

"Oh, Hagrid! What did you do?" gulped Lily.

**Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought.**

"Can't have been too hard. They didn't think he was brave at all."

**In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.**

"Good for him, then."

**Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Ron and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside.**

James and Sirius snorted.

"Just go inside!" Sirius cried.

"NO! THEY – WILL – NEVER – GO – IN – THERE – AGAIN!" Lily yelled almost hysterically. James grinned. Sirius winced.

**Snape was sweeping around in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe.**

"Stop that! I'm not trying to take it. I just know it!"

"How?"

"I just do!"

"Yes, I got that. But some proof would be nice!"

"We'll get that when we finish the book!" Severus said.

"Yes, so let me read!" Tonks said.

**Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter. Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Philosopher's Stone.**

"What else is there?" asked Sirius.

"Umm … EXAMS!" Lily said.

"Oh yeah! But who cares about those?" Sirius snorted. Lily had a look of utter shock on her face.

"My God, you remind me of Hermione!" James laughed.

"Shouldn't it be the other way round? Seeing as she's not even born yet!"

"Whatever."

**She had started drawing up revision timetables and colour-coding all her notes.**

Sirius and James snorted.

"Wow. I was wrong. She seems to be more of a study-geek than Remus and Lily put together!"

"And what's that supposed to mean, Prongs?" Remus asked dangerously. James gulped.

**Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same.**

"That sounds annoying," said James. "Thank God I'm so naturally talented in everything that I barely need to study and I pass!" James grinned.

Lily snorted.

"And what is _that_ supposed to mean?"

"It's not going to be that easy this year, James! We're NEWT students!"

"So?"

"Merlin! How you passed any of your OWLs, I'll never know!"

"Like I said, it's because I'm naturally talented. I'm like a genius."

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Thanks a lot, guys," James muttered.

**"Hermione, the exams are ages away."**

**"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."**

"But you're not six hundred years old!" Sirius said.

"**But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her.**

Sirius looked at the book oddly. The others laughed.

**"Anyway, what are you revising for, you already know it all."**

"I reckon that's good point," James said.

**"What am I revising for? Are you mad?**

"Nope. That's just her."

**You realize we need to pass these exams to get into second year?**

"Nobody ever gets left behind!" James said.

"Yeah! Otherwise half the Slytherins would still be in First year!" Sirius joked.

Severus looked at him half-angrily, half-amusedly.

"What? I said _half _the Slytherins, didn't I?"

Severus shook his head.

**They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago,**

Sirius' jaw fell open.

"Didn't she say they were ten weeks ago?" James said in amazement.

"Yeah! And she wanted to start a month _before _that!"

"Merlin, that's way too much! Especially for first year!" Lily added.

"Even Lily agrees!"

**I don't know what's got into me ..."**

**Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione.**

"Aren't they always?" sighed Sirius.

"But they're only first years!"

**They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones.**

"They never are!" James sighed.

"Wait till OWLs! They'll practically _drown_ you with homework!"

**It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library**

James blinked slowly. "Did you just say what I think you said?"

"Yes," Tonks laughed.

"Why is he – that's not – _the library_?" he finally managed to say.

"James! Stop making such a big deal out of this!"

**in the library with her to get through all their extra homework.**

**"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was clear, forget-me-not blue and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.**

James sighed. "Perfect for Quidditch!" he breathed longingly.

**Harry, who was looking up 'Dittany' in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, didn't look up until he heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"**

"What is Hagrid doing in the library?" asked Lily

"He's never in there," added Alice.

"Probably because he would hardly fit!"

**Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.**

**"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once.**

"Good old Hagrid!" Sirius grinned. "Can't lie to save his life!"

"Yup!" agreed James happily.

**"An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"**

"No!" Sirius said excitedly.

"They've already found him!" James exclaimed.

**"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. "And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St-"**

**"Shhhh!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"**

**"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy -"**

"Oh sure, just ask him!" Alice scoffed.

"He's not gonna tell them anything!" Frank laughed.

"Well, knowing Hagrid, he'll probably tell them _something!"_ James grinned.

"Don't you just love Hagrid," Sirius laughed.

James gave him an odd look. "No, that's just you."

"What's that supposed to mean, Prongs?"

"I'm completely straight!

"What the – PRONGS!" he roared.

"What?" James asked innocently.

"Stop it with all the gay jokes! It's starting to piss me off!"

"Only starting? Man, I'm getting sloppy. Usually he'd be pissed ages ago!"

"PRONGS!" Sirius warned.

"Yes?" James said again, enjoying this thoroughly.

"Don't push me!"

"Push!" James cried, while actually pushing Sirius.

Remus hurriedly exchanged bets with Alice, Frank, Tonks and Lily. Severus looked like he didn't want to be included.

"PRONGS!"

"PADFOOT!" James imitated his tone of voice.

"This is getting boring," Alice announced. "Either start fighting or something, or I'm tying both of you up!"

"Gladly!" Sirius grinned, getting off his seat and pulling James off his. James laughed and easily got the upper hand. Sirius growled from under him.

"Now stay quiet, little doggy, and I might get off!" James goaded him.

Sirius growled some more.

"YES!" roared Remus as the others handed him tons of money.

"Go on, Tonks," James said, looking at her for a split-second. Sirius seized his chance and threw James off.

"What the – "

"HAH! Now take it back!"

"NO!"

Tonks grinned happily as Remus moodily handed her the money.

"Take it – ARGH!" Sirius called. James had sneakily taken out his wand and thrown Sirius back.

"You sneaky little –"

"Uh uh uh, Padfoot. No saying bad words!" James grinned.

"Git!" James proceeded with tying him up, but this time with a different kind of rope. It looked thicker and heavier.

"Ignore him and go on, Tonks," James said. But Tonks was busy handing Alice the money grudgingly. Alice was grinning broadly. Lily was laughing.

"Laughing at my misery!" Sirius cried dramatically, struggling to get out of the ropes. "How could you?"

"It's easy," Alice assured him.

**"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen - come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind,**

"He will," James said confidently.

"Oi!" yelled Sirius angrily, unable to get himself out.

**but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've old yeh -"**

"OI!" yelled Sirius again, louder this time.

**"See you later, then," said Harry.**

"ARE YOU PEOPLE DEAF? GET ME OUT OF THIS!"

**Hagrid shuffled off.**

"PRONGS!"

**"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.**

"Probably about dragons," Remus said.

"Yeah," James said, grinning at the thought.

"JIMMY!"

"Calling me names isn't exactly helping your situation, Paddy. Now don't make me Silence you too."

**"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"**

**"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, **

"Smart move," James noted.

**who'd had enough of working.**

**He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.**

**"Dragons!" he whispered.**

"Knew it!" James smirked.

"No you didn't! I did!" Remus cried.

"Same thing!"

"Is not!"

**"Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."**

"Someone's got a pet dragon!" Sirius said in a sing-song voice.

**"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Harry.**

Sirius' grin was impossibly wide. "DRAGON!" he bellowed manically.

"Is it wrong that I'm scared of him?" Severus asked Lily.

"Not at all, Sev. He's a creepy guy."

"HEY! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you are," James said reasonably.

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Prove it!"

"Well, you're gay –"

"Prongs! I'm not gay!"

"Both of you shut up!" Lily said angrily. "Good."

"You're mean!" Sirius said in a childlike voice. Lily glared at him.

"Uh oh," James said quietly, exchanging dark looks with Remus, Alice and Frank.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?" bellowed Lily. Sirius gulped. "N – nothing!"

"SIRIUS BLACK – WHAT DID YOU SAY?"

"Nothing!" he gasped.

"James," Lily said dangerously quietly.

James gulped. "Yes?" he whispered.

"Take off those ropes."

"What? Why?"

"Just do it."

"Okay," James muttered, removing the ropes."

"Now make him hang upside down again."

"What?"

"I said, make him hang upside down again."

James acted quickly and sent Sirius hanging upside down in the air, held by his ankle again. It seemed to relax Lily a fraction to see him hanging there helplessly, looking frightened.

"Let's see … what can we do to him?"

Sirius gulped and looked pleadingly at the others.

They all shook their heads at his stupidity.

"_Petrificus Totalus!_" Lily said, pointing her wand at him. He froze, still hanging in mid-air.

James whispered something to Remus, and he nodded his head, sighing.

"Wh – what are you going to do, Lily flower?" asked James timidly.

"Oh, I've already done it."

"What?" frowned James. "Just _Petrificus Totalus_?"

"Not quite."

"What?"

"I've also added another, fun little charm."

"What?" asked James apprehensively, fearing for his friend.

"Rectusempra."

"You didn't!" he gasped, while turning to look at Remus, who handed him five Galleons. James grinned.

"I did!" she grinned evilly.

"So he's being tickled, and he can't even _move?"_ James asked incredulously.

"Yes!" she smirked.

"That's m – er – that's ingenious!" he amended hastily as she turned to look at him.

"It is!"

The others were laughing hysterically.

"That's bloody well brilliant!" Alice cried between fits of laughter.

"Let's put some icing on this cake!" Severus grinned, and with a wave of his wand, water came pouring out and engulfed Sirius before falling into a pool beneath him.

They laughed even harder at that.

"No, _this _is the icing," Alice said, using a colour-changing charm to paint his face Slytherin–green.

"Should I add a little serpent, too?" Frank asked casually.

"Definitely!" Tonks cried, laughing so hard she was rolling on the ground, clutching her sides. Remus looked like he was about to join her. Frank grinned as he used his wand to carefully add a silver serpent to his right cheek. Remus fell on the floor with Tonks.

James, wanting to outdo the others, added, "No. That's just amateur stuff. This will be the icing. The best icing _ever!"_ He too grinned evilly, and proceeded with shaving all of Sirius' well kept, carefully maintained, wet hair that he spent so much time combing and perfecting. Sirius' eyes widened the tiniest bit possible as he hung there in horror, seeing his precious hair fall down to the ground before him, landing in the pool of water. His eyes were watering, but they weren't sure if that was because of his hair or because of the tickling.

This seemed to be too much for Tonks to handle, and tears started to appear on her cheeks as she was laughing so hard.  


"Stop!" she begged, gasping for breath. "I can't breathe anymore!" Remus laughed even louder, but managed to get back on his seat. He helped Tonks up, and she sat beside him.

The others also laughed loudly and left Sirius hanging there, unable to do anything as he was still being tickled. It took a while for everyone to calm down, James and Lily to sit back down on their seats, and Tonks to continue reading.

**"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon-breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that.**

"I didn't," Tonks said matter-of-factly, completely ignoring Sirius. Remus wasn't finding it as easy.

"Come on, we've had our fun. Let poor Padfoot go already! He's probably dying right now!"

"Why should I?" Lily demanded.

"Because …" Remus began, but was unable to come up with an answer.

"This is just torture! Let him go, Lils," James said, worrying just a bit about his friend.

Lily frowned at them, then slowly took off the Petrifying charm, leaving the tickling charm in place. The room was suddenly filled with deafening laughter and Sirius began wriggling like mad in mid air. Severus quickly let him down, and he fell in a heap, still wriggling and laughing as though he was mad.

Remus tried to take of the Rectusempra, but he couldn't.

"Why isn't it coming off?" he asked.

"Only I can take that off!" she smirked.

"P – p – PLEASE!" Sirius begged, barely managing to get out the words. "I – I – I'm s- s- sorry!"

"Fine!" Lily said angrily, lifting the charm. Sirius went suddenly still, lying silently on the wet floor, breathing heavily.

Tonks grinned and continued reading.

**It's hard to stop Muggles noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden - anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."**

**"But there aren't wild dragons in Britain?" said Harry.**

"Nope," James sighed sadly. "If only, though!"

**"Of course there are," said Ron.**

James looked at the book hopefully. Lily didn't like the look on his face.

**"Common Welsh Green and Hedridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our lot have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."**

**"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.**

"He's got a Norwegian Ridgeback!" James shouted.

"Please, James!" Lily cried, covering her ears.

"Sorry," he said.

Sirius finally got up slowly, shakily, and turned his green face to glare at Frank and Alice.

"You!" he said angrily.

They both grinned at each other, and then at him.

"YOU!" he said again, louder. "MY FACE IS GREEN!"

Alice burst out laughing. "I know! Isn't it wonderful!"

"NO!" he snapped. "I am NOT in Slytherin. I do NOT want a green face! And I sure as hell do NOT want a snake on it! TAKE IT OFF!"

"No!" Alice and Frank said defiantly.

"TAKE – IT – OFF!" he growled threateningly.

"I can't! It won't come off 'till tomorrow! I spelled it so that it would come off by itself tomorrow!" Alice said, though she sounded a little afraid.

He growled at her furiously. "So I'm going to have a green face _all day?"_ he said hopelessly.

"Yup!" Alice said brightly.

"And that Serpent isn't gonna come off 'till I take it off myself!"

Sirius growled furiously before he turned on James. "AND YOU!" he thundered.

James grinned broadly at him. "Yup, me."

"MY HAIR! MY PRECIOUS, _BEAUTIFUL _HAIR!" he yelled, almost in tears.

"What about it?" James asked innocently.

"YOU SHAVED IT OFF!"

"Yes, I think I realized when I –"

"This is not funny!"

"Actually, Padfoot," James contradicted him, "it is. Very."

"Shut up, Prongs!" he snapped. "Why the hair? You could've done anything else …. _Anything_! Why the _hair?" _he cried desperately, clutching his bald head.

James tried his best not to grin. "Because that was the part you'd miss the most," he said, unable to hide his obvious amusement.

"Wh –"

"Alright, Sirius, that's enough," Lily warned. "Be a good boy and this won't happen again."

Sirius glared at her but shut up, cursing her in his mind.

**When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed.**

"It's the dragon!" James cried happily. "AWESOME!"

**Hagrid called, "Who is it?" before he let them in and then shut the door quickly behind them.  
It was stiflingly hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate.**

James and Sirius bounced up and down in their seats excitedly.

"Dragon! Dragon! Dragon!" they chanted. Lily rolled her eyes.

**Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.**

"Probably a good idea," James snorted, no longer chanting.

**"So - yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"**

**"Yes," said Harry. There was no point in beating about the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."**

"Wonder what he's gonna tell them?" Sirius said eagerly, momentarily forgetting about the dragon.

"If you'd just shut up, Sirius, we'd find out!" Tonks said irritably.

"What's up with you, Dora?" he asked. She glared at him.

"Don't – call – me – Dora!" she said dangerously. Sirius looked taken aback at how fierce she had sounded.

"Merlin, are all women this scary?" he asked James.

"No. Just the ones we know," James replied.

"HEY!" the three girls said indignantly.

"Well, you are. Look at what you just did to poor Padfoot."

"_Poor_ Padfoot? It wasn't _poor_ Padfoot when you were shaving his hair off!" Tonks cried.

Remus smiled. James frowned.

"She's got you there, Prongs," Remus grinned. "Good job, Tonks. Not many people can shut this one up." Tonks blushed slightly and grinned.

**Hagrid frowned at him.**

**"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn't tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts - I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know about Fluffy."**

"They met him, of course,' said James happily.

**"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice.**

"Ah, yes," Sirius grinned. "Flattery works like a charm on Hagrid!"

"You should know! The amount of stuff you've wheedled out of him is bloody well amazing!" Remus laughed.

"Thank you, thank you!" Sirius grinned.

"That wasn't a compliment."

"It was to me."

"You know, I always wondered how you were so good at it," James said thoughtfully. "You're even better than me. Now I know."

"How?" asked a puzzled Sirius.

"Because you're actually in to him! So you don't need to pretend!"

Sirius growled at him.

"James, knock it off. Stop being a prat!" Lily said angrily.

James looked shocked.

**Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling. "We only wondered who had done the guarding, really," Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."**

Sirius looked impressed.

"She knows what she's doing!" he said approvingly.

"Yup. She may even be better than Padfoot!" Remus grinned. Sirius pretended to be insulted.

"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that!" he said.

"Don't. I wanted you to hear it!"

"Git!"

**Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione.**

"She really is good at everything!" James said almost as though he were really impressed.

"Except chess," Sirius reminded him.

James grinned. "Except chess."

**"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that ... let's see ... he borrowed Fluffy from me ... then some o' the teachers did enchantments ... Professor Sprout - Professor Flitwick - Professor McGonagall -" he ticked them off on his fingers.**

Lily's jaw dropped. "I can't believe he told them that! He is so easy to manipulate!"

"I know!" James and Sirius both grinned.

**"Professor Quirrell - an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."**

"Hah!" Severus said triumphantly. "I'm helping to guard it! So I can't be stealing it!"

"Not necessarily, Snape," Sirius said, still kind of angry from when he threw water on him.

Severus frowned at him.

**"Snape?"**

**"Yeah - yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."**

Severus grinned broadly.

**Harry knew Ron and Hermione were thinking the same thing as he was. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it.**

Severus groaned.

**He probably knew everything - except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy. "You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"**

**"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.**

"And it better stay that way," said Remus firmly.

**"Well, that's something," Harry muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."**

**"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid. Harry notice him glance at the fire. Harry looked at it too.**

"Dragon! Dragon!" Sirius chanted again.

**"Hagrid - what's that?"**

**But he already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.**

"DRAGON! DRAGON!"

**"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard. "That's - er ..."**

"A dragon's egg," James grinned, finishing Hagrid's sentence for him.

**"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."**

"How does he know what it is?" asked James curiously.

"Who cares?" Sirius snorted. "I need to find out how he got it!"

"No, Sirius!" Remus said sternly.

**"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the villiage havin' a few drinks an' got into a game of cards with a stranger.**

"A stranger who just happened to have a dragon's egg?" Remus scoffed.

**Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."**

"No shock there, really."

"Get it out of there, Hagrid!" Lily called suddenly.

"Why?" asked Sirius.

"Sirius! His house is made of _wood!"_ Lily shrieked.

"Oh. _Oh!_ Crap."

"Took you long enough," James snorted.

"Shut up!"

"You shut up!"

"No!"

"Stupid git."

"You're the git!"

"Then you're the bald git!"

"ARGH! Don't remind me!"

"I will! Every chance I get!"

"Prongs!"

"Yes, baldie?"

"PRONGS!"

"What?"

"Just shut up."

"No. You shut up, you stupid, bald, Slytherin git!"

"STOP IT JIMMY!"

James growled. "Name – not – Jimmy!"

"It is! JIMMY!"

"Shut up!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP!" yelled Lily angrily. "Can't we get through one chapter without me getting annoyed?"

"Well, it's a bit late. After what we did to Paddy and everything," James grinned.

Lily couldn't help but smile.

"HEY!"

"Just stay quiet. Please."

"Well, since you asked so nicely!" Sirius began. "NO!"

"Sirius!" Lily warned him.

**"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Hermione.**

**"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow.**

"Reading won't be enough, Hagrid!"

"**Got this outta the library - Dragon-Breeding for Pleasure and Profit - it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here.**

"Hagrid! This is illegal!" Lily cried out in shock.

"Relax. The book can't hear you, Lily," Alice said.

**Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour.**

James' eyes widened. He seemed incredibly excited.

"Padfoot!" he cried. "Did he just tell us -?"

"Exactly how to look after a dragon? Yes," Sirius grinned, thinking the same thing.

"James," Lily warned. "No."

"But –"

"No."

"But it's a –"

"No."

"The dra –"

"No."

"Lily!"

"No!"

"Dragons drink brandy?" Alice asked.

**An' see here - how ter recognize diff'rent eggs - what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."**

**He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.**

**"Hagrid, you live in a wooden house," she said.**

"See! Hermione will reason with him," Lily said hopefully.

"It's like you've never even _met_ Hagrid!" James laughed. "You do know that he's wanted one for ages, right? He's not going to change his mind because of _Hermione! _He's probably not even listening!"

Lily gave him a scathing look, but didn't say anything.

**But Hagrid wasn't listening. **

"You see?" James said triumphantly.

**He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.**

**So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.**

"Which is bound to happen soon. They're supposed to grow at a crazy speed. And where is he supposed to hide it anyway?" James scoffed.

"Forbidden Forest?" Sirius guessed.

"Yeah, because nobody would notice if half the trees suddenly caught fire, and all the centaurs burned, right Paddy?" Remus said sarcastically.

"Fine! It was just an idea!"

**"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled though all the extra homework they were getting.**

**Hermione had now started making revision timetables for Harry and Ron, too.**

"It was gonna happen sooner or later," Sirius sighed.

"And I guess it was sooner," James sighed.

**It was driving them mad.**

"Of course."

**Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: It's hatching.**

"Oh crap."

"AWESOME!" yelled James and Sirius.

**Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut.**

"Hermione will never let that happen," James snorted.

**Hermione wouldn't hear of it.**

"Seeee?"

**"Hermione, how many times are we going to see a dragon hatching?"**

"Even she has to admit that's gotta be more interesting than a stupid Herbology class!"

"But she never will."

**"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing -"**

**"Shut up!" Harry whispered.**

**Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen.**

"Nosy little git."

"Can't he mind his own business?" Alice said.

"Nope," Frank answered.

**How much had he heard?**

"If he's as good an eavesdropper as his stupid father, then probably all of it," James sighed.

"And Hagrid will be busted."

**Harry didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.**

"Yup, he's heard it all," Severus confirmed.

**Ron and Hermione argued all the way down to Herbology, and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other two during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle the the end of their lesson, the three of them dropped their trowels**

"Their whats?" Sirius asked.

"Trowels," Tonks answered.

"Which are what, exactly?"

"Something for Herbology, genius. You've used it hundreds of times, dummy!" Frank snorted.

"Oh. That curved thingie to make holes?" Sirius asked sheepishly.

"Yes."

"Oh."

**at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the Forest.**

"What I wouldn't give to see a dragon egg hatch," Sirius sighed breathlessly.

"Yeah," James grinned, with the same faraway look on his face.

**Hagrid greeted them looking flushed and excited.  
"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.**

**The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.  
They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.**

**All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open.**

Lily and Alice gasped. James and Sirius edged forwards excitedly.

**The baby dragon flopped down on to the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella.**

"Ahh! Way to ruin it!" Sirius growled. "I thought it would be all cool. This is just an ugly old umbrella!"

**Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body and it had a long snout with wide nostrils, stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.**

Sirius frowned, trying to imagine in.

"How would that look?"

"How should we know?" Frank snorted.

"Well, it could be worse for Hagrid," James said reasonably.

"How?" asked Tonks skeptically.

"He could've gotten a Hungarian Horntail egg!"

The others winced. Only Tonks didn't know what that was.

"What's a Hungarian Horntail?" she asked eagerly.

"The scariest dragons ever! They've got horns all along their tails," Sirius said.

"You know, I kinda figured about the horns on the tail," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"Whatever. They're just big and scary," Sirius concluded.

"Oh, well put!" James scoffed.

"How would you describe them, then?" Sirius demanded.

James thought about it for a bit. "You know what … I think he may have been dead on," he laughed.

Remus' mouth fell open.

"What?"

"Has hell frozen over? Has the world come to an end?"

"What?"

"I can't believe Sirius was right! And you agreed!"

"HEY!" they both yelled.

The others started laughing.

**It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.**

"And pretty soon the whole cabin will go down in flames!" Alice said dramatically.

"Merlin, I hope that doesn't happen!" Lily gasped.

"Don't worry, it won't," James assured her, while adding under his breath to Sirius, "and we're supposed to be the dramatic ones!"

**"Isn't he beautiful?" Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.**

"And that's beautiful to Hagrid?" Sirius scoffed.

"Well, if you already have a giant three-headed dog, what's the big deal about a tiny baby dragon?" James said.

"Yeah, it's a baby … _now_. But soon it'll grow, and get really big and –"

"Okay, Lils. We get it," James sighed.

**"Bless him, look, he knows his mummy!" said Hagrid.**

"Did he just say –"

"Yup, I'm afraid he did, Paddy," James confirmed.

"Has Hagrid gone mad?" Frank asked.

"You know, he may have," Sirius laughed.

"Sirius!" Lily scolded him.

"I was just kidding!"

**"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian ridgebacks grow, exactly?"**

"Very," Sirius answered for her.

"You're not Hagrid, Padfoot."

"So?"

**Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face - he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.**

"What's the matter?" asked Sirius worriedly.

**"What's the matter?"**

Sirius blinked several times.

**"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains - it's a kid - he's runnin' back up ter the school."**

They all groaned and said at the same time, "Malfoy."

**Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.  
Malfoy had seen the dragon.**

James swore under his breath so Lily wouldn't hear. Sirius did the some, but with more profane words, only he wasn't as successful with keeping it quiet.

"Stop that or I'm Silencing you!" Lily warned him.

**Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Ron and Hermione very nervous. They spent most of their free time in hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.**

"Much as I hate to admit it," James sighed, "he has to get rid of that dragon."

"As soon as possible!" Lily added.

"Hey, maybe he could go to that place where Ron's brother works!" Sirius suggested excitedly. "He's supposed to be working with dragons, right?"

"I don't know what's wrong with the world!" James said dramatically. "Sirius is actually saying _smart _things that make sense today!"

"No need to sound so surprised, Jimmy!" Sirius snarled.

James scowled at him and hit him on his bald head.

"Quiet, baldie, or I won't grow that hair back for you!"

"Yes you are!"

"I might decide that you look better like this. I think the bald, green look suits you, don't you agree?" he asked the others.

"O, yes. A true work of art," Alice smirked, admiring her work.

"Brings out his eyes, don't you think?" Frank teased.

"Adds some colour to his dull face," Tonks laughed.

"Looks very nice," Lily agreed.

"Slytherin green suits you," Severus smirked, knowing how much it would irritate Sirius. "Maybe you should've been in –"

"SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!" Sirius roared.

They all burst out laughing.

**"Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."**

"Where?" asked James.

"That's a good point, really. You can't exactly just leave a dragon somewhere and not expect it to burn everything near it," Remus agreed.

**"I can't," said Hagrid. "He's too little. He'd die."**

"I seriously doubt that," Sirius grinned.

"The animals around it would be in more danger than the dragon!" Tonks said.

**They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week.**

"Now that is way too fast!" Alice cried in shock.

**Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils.**

"Well that sure as hell can't be good!"

"How clever of you to have figured that out, Padfoot!" James said sarcastically.

"Don't start, you two," Lily warned.

"I wish there was snow in here," James mumbled under his breath for no particular reason other than to throw it at Sirius. "Yay!" he yelled as snow began to fall from the ceiling. He quickly made a snowball and hurled it at Sirius.

"PRONGS!" Remus yelled as the snowball missed and hit him.

Sirius just grinned.

"You threw it off course!" James yelled.

"Well of course I did!"

Remus threw snow back at James, but it went in the wrong direction and hit Tonks.

"He y!"

"Sorry! It was Prongs! You threw it off course!

"Duh!"

Tonks threw snow at Remus. Remus grinned and threw Tonks directly into the pile of snow.

"Argh!" She yelled as her clothes became drenched.

"Remus!" she cried.

Remus grinned. She got up slowly and dragged him into the snow, slipping herself.

"Clutz," Sirius laughed.

"Shut up!" Tonks cried. Remus got out of the snow and dried off his clothes.

"Dry mine too!" Tonks said.

"No."

"Dry it!" she half-ordered, half-pleaded. Remus laughed and finally dried her off too. She grinned and thanked him.

"Heh, it looks like we all have horrible dandruff!" Frank noted.

"Make it stop, Jimmy!" Tonks cried.

"Not if you don't stop calling me Jimmy!"

"Doesn't matter, then. I doubt you know how to make it stop anyway!" Tonks said, pushing all the right buttons.

"I do too!" James yelled, and soon it had stopped snowing.

Tonks grinned broadly and the others laughed.

"What?" James frowned.

"You are such a tool, Prongs!" Sirius smirked.

"What?" he asked again, confused.

"She –" began Sirius, but Alice cut him off.

"If he can't figure it out by himself, then he doesn't need to find out!" she smirked. Sirius grinned.

"Find out what?" James demanded.

"She tricked you, mate!" Sirius burst out, despite the look from Alice.

"What? How?"

"You really are dull. I'm amazed you made it to NEWT level, Jimmy," Tonks grinned.

"Knock it off already!"

Tonks laughed and let it drop.

**Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.**

"He'd better not lose his job over that damn dragon!" Lily said heatedly.

"Relax, Lils," James soothed her. "Dumbledore would never fire him!"

**"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes.**

"Funny. I thought he'd name it cuddles or something," Sirius snorted.

**"He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mummy?"**

"Urgh. If I act like that with our son, James, stop me!" Lily said in a disgusted tone.

James grinned.

**"He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered in Harry's ear.**

"Yeah, he has," Sirius nodded gravely.

**"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, "give it a fortnight and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. **

"If not longer," James added.

**Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."**

"Hagrid's not going to listen."

**Hagrid bit his lip. "I - I know I can't keep him forever,**

"And thank Merlin for that!" Lily sighed.

**but I can't jus' dump him, I can't."**

**Harry suddenly turned to Ron. "Charlie," he said.**

"I KNEW IT!" Sirius roared.

"Calm down, Paddy!"

**"You're losing it, too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?"**

They chuckled at his stupidity.

"I'd swear that boy was Padfoot if I didn't know better," Remus laughed.

"If he was around now, they'd be together for sure!" James grinned.

"Hey! Stop that now!"

"Better Ron than me!" Severus exclaimed. Everyone burst into renewed laughter.

"It's not fair! Stop it!" Sirius pouted.

**"No - Charlie - your brother Charlie. in Romania. Studying dragons. We could sent Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"**

"I told you! Didn't I tell you?"

"Yes, Paddy," Remus sighed, rubbing his head.

"It looks like Harry is pretty smart, if he could think of that," James said proudly.

"Well, Sirius thought of it too, so …" Frank smirked.

"Oh yeah, so it can't have been that intelligent after all," James said with a louder-than-necessary sigh.

Sirius scowled at both of them.

"You're just jealous of my brilliant mind!"

Everyone burst out laughing at the exact same moment.

"Hey!" Sirius cried indignantly.

**"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"**

**And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could owl to Charlie to ask him.**

**The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry's Invisibility Cloak. He had been down to Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.**

"I'm pretty sure Peter wouldn't like that," Sirius muttered.

"Why?" Severus asked curiously.

Sirius cursed under his breath. "No reason," he said innocently.

**"It bit me!" he said, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief.**

The girls gasped. Frank and James looked concerned, which was a surprise for Lily and Alice.

**"I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit.**

"That's probably the way Hagrid sees it," Frank sighed.

**When it bit me he told me off for frightening it.**

Sirius' jaw dropped. "That's a bit much even for Hagrid! How was it supposed to be Ron's fault?"

"Aww," James cooed. "Are you defending your first crush, Siri?"

"Urgh! For Merlin's sake, STOP IT!"

"Well, for Merlin, I'll stop," James grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes.

**And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."**

"He's definitely nuts."

**There was a tap on the dark window.  
"It's Hedwig!" said Harry, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"**

"Thank Merlin!" Lily muttered.

**The three of them put their heads together to read the note.**

_**Dear Ron,  
How are you?**_

"Well, let's see. Ron's been bitten, and they're all risking getting into trouble to help Hagrid, so I'm guessing not too good," Severus said sarcastically.

__

_**Thanks for the letter - I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.**_

"Well that shouldn't be too hard! It's dead easy to hide a bloody dragon!" Frank scoffed.

_**Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.  
Send me an answer as soon as possible.**_

_**Love,  
Charlie**_

"That'll be pushing their luck, honestly!" Lily said almost hysterically. "It's a dragon, not a tiny little kitten or something!"

"Relax, Lils!" James said, putting his arm around her. She sighed and put her head against his shoulder.

**They looked at each other.  
"We've got the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult -**

"I think you're underestimating the dragon, Harry," Alice said.

"Yup."

**I think the Cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."**

"Yeah. They're only little firsties now, so it might be possible," James said thoughtfully.

"Stop calling us firsties, Jimmy!" Tonks said indignantly.

"Stop calling me Jimmy, Firstie!" James said angrily.

"No!"

"Fine! Nymphadora the Firstie it is!"

Tonks looked at him furiously.

"I wouldn't piss her off if I were you, mate," Sirius advised him, whispering so the others wouldn't hear. "She can be just as – erm – _nice_ as Lily."

"This coming from the bloke who purposefully pissed Lily off and ended up bald and green!"

"Hey! I was just trying to help, Jimmy!"

"Hey!" James yelled, throwing a snowball at him, even though Sirius was right beside him.

**It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other two agreed with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert - and Malfoy.**

"That's a good enough reason to risk it!"

**There was a hitch.**

"There always is," sighed Sirius.

**By next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey - would she recognise a dragon bite?**

"Probably," Remus nodded, " but she doesn't ask questions. At least, not with us."

"Yeah, 'cause we go in there at least twice a week, so she doesn't bother anymore," Sirius grinned.

"Well, we haven't been in that often anymore! It was only when we were tran – erm – doing that thing third, fourth and fifth year," James said, eyeing Severus nervously.

"What?" Severus asked.

"Nothing!" they both said immediately. Severus shook his head. "I'll figure it out eventually!"

"We're counting on that!" James assured him.

"But until then …"

**By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous.**

"They probably were," Frank nodded.

**Harry and Hermione rushed to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.  
"It's not just my hand," he whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off.**

"Poor Ron," said Lily.

"Oh, come on. We must've had way worse!" James cried. "At least once," he added.

"Yeah. There's been so much that we kind of forget. But we're better now. Not so many injuries," Sirius grinned.

"Except when we want to skip lessons," James added.

"Or we try out our new – erm – products," Sirius said mysteriously.

"Products?"

"MWPP," Sirius grinned.

"Which is what, again?" Tonks asked hopefully.

"Should we tell them?"

"Sure. We might as well!" James nodded enthusiastically.

"Great. So they're these sweets that make you sick!" Sirius said excitedly. Evidently, this didn't have the reaction he wanted.

"Don't you get it?" James added impatiently. "This means you can get out of any class you want! Just bite into it, and you'll start puking, or bleeding, or you'll faint or something …"

"And bite again and it's all gone!"

"But we haven't exactly perfected it," Remus said gravely.

"We've had more than a few mishaps when we couldn't get the bleeding to stop, so we've seen Madam Pomfrey."

"'Course she's dying to know what it is we're doing. She probably thinks we've been fighting or something!"

"Good times," Sirius said reminiscently.

"Idiots," Lily said. "Do you know how dangerous that is?"

"'Course we do! That's why we're gonna wait 'till we have a Philosopher's Stone to finish them off!" Sirius said with a laugh.

"Idiots!" Lily said again.

"But you have to admit, Lily, it's really advanced magic! How on earth are you making these?" Alice asked.

"Marauder's secret! Can't tell a living soul!" Sirius grinned.

"But we can tell dead ones," James said. "I think we've told Nick, haven't we?"

"Yeah. That wasn't a very smart move," Remus sighed.

"Nearly went off and told McGonagall!" Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Yeah. We really ought to finish those up. They'll be great when they're ready!"

"Yeah."

"OK, now that we're done talking about random things, back to the book, please?" Lily said.

**Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me - I've told her it was a dog but I don't think she believes me -**

"Course she doesn't!"

"She's not an idiot!"

**I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."**

"No! It was worth it!" James insisted.

"And he's such a prat that he'd have done it anyway!"

**Harry and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.  
"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all.**

**On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.**

**"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no - oh no - I've just remembered - Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took,**

They all stared at the book.

"Idiot!"

"They're screwed!"

"Hagrid's dead!"

"How could he just leave it there?"

"Idiots!"

"Someone's already said that, Paddy. Come up with something more original!"

"I don't want to, Prongs!"

"You're just too stupid to come up with something."

"Hey! What is this, attack Sirius day or something?"

"You know what, it should be. They should name a day "Attack Sirius Black Day" and everyone would-"

"Enough, Jimmy!" Sirius snarled.

**he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."**

"They are going to get caught!" Lily cried.

"How do you know?"

"Anything that can go wrong always does," sighed Lily, shaking her head.

"Come again?" James said.

"What?" asked Sirius.

"Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong."

"What is that, some a law or something?" Sirius scoffed.

"It is. It's Murphy's Law. I learned about it when I was still in Muggle School. Anything and everything that can go wrong, _will _go wrong!"

"Way to be an optimist, Lily!" Sirius snorted.

"It's true! It always happens! We had this picnic planned once, and the weatherman said there was a zero percent chance of rain, and guess what? It rained!" Lily said irritably.

"Well, even wizards know that Muggle weathermen are completely useless!"

**Harry and Hermione didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.**

"She always does that. I don't see why. We hardly sleep anyway. I'm always thinking of what prank to do next!" Sirius smiled.

Lily just shook her head.

**"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told Hermione. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."**

"He's got a point."

**They found Fang the boarhound sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.**

**"I won't let you in," he puffed. "Norbert's at a tricky stage - nothin' I can't handle."**

"Thank God!" Lily sighed. "The farther they are from that thing the better!"

**When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg.**

"And he still thinks that thing is all cute?" James scoffed.

"Apparently."

**"Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot - jus' playin' -**

They snorted.

"If that's playing, I don't want to be around it when it's mad!" Sirius cried.

"Sirius, you _won't_ be around it. It's like twenty-something years in the future!" James laughed.

"Shut up. I knew that. I was just saying."

"Saying what?"

"Just shut up, Prongs!"

"No."

"Guys, if you want to get through this chapter and have your turn to read, _shut up!_"

That shut them up.

**he's only a baby, after all."**

"That's the scary part!"

**The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. Harry and Hermione walked back to the castle, feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.**

**They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say goodbye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the Entrance Hall,**

"Ah, what is that brilliant poltergeist doing now?" Sirius grinned.

"I know you're in love with him and everything, but stop it!" Remus teased.

"Argh!"

"Come on, don't taunt him like that!" Lily said angrily.

"But it's attack Sirius Black Day, Lils," James grinned.

"Um … did she just defend me?" Sirius asked in amazement.

They all laughed.

"Yes, I believe she did, Paddy!" James chuckled.

"This really is a weird day!" Remus smiled.

"How so?" asked Frank.

"Well, first of all, Sirius actually said something _smart_, then James _agreed_ with him, and now Lily is sticking up for Padfoot!" Remus explained. Frank grinned. Sirius looked half way between angry and amused.

**where he'd been playing tennis against that wall.**

"How on earth does a poltergeist play tennis?" asked Sirius.

"Who knows."

**Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.  
"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice.**

"Brandy? Dragons drink brandy?"

"We've already been through this, Sirius," Frank added.

**"An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."**

"A _teddy bear_?" James cried incredulously. "What on earth does he need a teddy bear for? He's a bloody dragon! He'll rip it to shreds!"

"Relax, Jimmy. Nothing to get worked up about," Frank said soothingly. James didn't catch the use of the name "Jimmy."

**From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Harry as though teddy was having his head torn off.**

"See? Honestly! What was Hagrid thinking?"

"Probably wasn't thinking at all!"

**"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mummy will never forget you!"**

Lily rolled her eyes.

**How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer and nearer as they heaved Norbet up the marble staircase, then another - even one of Harry's short cuts didn't make the work much easier.**

"Harry knows short cuts?" James said happily.

"Yes! And he doesn't even have the map!" Sirius cried.

"Where d'you think it is?" asked James.

"I dunno. Maybe one of us has it," suggested Sirius.

"Or maybe Filch finally managed to confiscate it like he's been trying to do for ages," Remus smirked.

The other two laughed.

"Like that's ever going to happen!"

**"Nearly there!" Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.  
Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate.**

"Crap."

**Forgetting that they were already invisible,**

James shook his head. "Rooky mistake."

"Yep. Remember when Wormtail almost ran off with the cloak when he panicked. McGonagall nearly caught us!" Sirius said.

"Yeah. And she would've if I hadn't pulled him back."

**they shrank into the shadows, staring at the two outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared. Professor McGonagall,**

"I'll bet anything it's because of that damn Malfoy!" James snarled.

"How 'bout all the Galleons you've won since we began the book?" Sirius asked eagerly.

James frowned. "That must be like a million Galleons by now!"

"Hardly," Remus scoffed.

"Will you be able to pay me if I'm right?" James asked seriously.

"Probably not," Sirius answered truthfully.

"Then no!"

"Suit yourself."

"I will."

"What?"

"Never mind."

**in a tartan dressing-gown and a hairnet,**

"It's worst at night. She looks so weird not in proper robes," Sirius shuddered.

"Can you believe that in twenty years she still uses that same bloody gown?" James asked in amazement.

"We wouldn't know. We don't make it a habit of running into her at night!" Lily snapped.

"Why so snappy?" Sirius asked.

"Because I'm getting a head ache. Now shut up already!"

"No can do!"

"Sirius!" Lily warned.

**had Malfoy by the ear.**

"Wooohoooo! Malfoy's in trouble! HAH!" Sirius yelled. "What were you saying about Muffy's Law, Lily?"

Lily scowled at him. "It's Murphy's Law, and something can still go wrong!"

"Way to be an optimist, Lily!"

"You've already said that."

**"Detention!"**

"Yes!"

**she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin!**

"Even better!"

**Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you -"**

**"You don't understand, Professor, Harry Potter's coming - he's got a dragon!"**

"Why that little snitch!" Sirius snarled.

"What more would you expect of a Malfoy?" James snorted.

"Well, at least McGonagall will never buy that story!" Frank laughed.

**"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies!**

"See?"

**Come on - I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"**

**The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the Cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig.**

"A jig?"

**"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"**

"Don't," James warned.

**"Don't," Harry advised her.**

James grinned. "Kinda freaky, isn't it?"

"I feel bad for Harry. He's way too much like Jimmy!" Alice noted.

"Hey! It's a very good thing for him to be like me!"

"Not really, Prongs."

**Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited. Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.** **Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them.**

**They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry and Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.**

**At last, Norbert was going ... going ... gone.**

"Hooray!" Sirius yelled. The others cheered.

**They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them.**

"Oh crap!" James cried.

"What? The dragon's gone!" Sirius yelled happily.

"Did they put that cloak back on?" James asked worriedly.

"I don't think they did," Frank said solemnly.

**No more dragon - Malfoy in detention - what could spoil their happiness?**

"McGonagall," James muttered.

**The answer to that was waiting for them at the foot of the stairs.**

They all cringed.

"I told you. Anything and everything that can -" Lily began.

"Yeah yeah, we heard you the first hundred times!" Sirius sighed.

"But if that were really true, me and Paddy wouldn't be sitting here," James said.

"He's right. We'd have been expelled by now!"

Lily laughed. "That's probably true!"

**As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness. **

"He's even worse than McGonagall!" James cried.

**"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we are in trouble." They'd left the Invisibility Cloak on top of the tower.**

"Argh! How could they be so stupid!" Sirius roared.

"Hey! Harry isn't stupid! He just forgot!" said James. "And Hermione didn't remember either!"

"Well, that's the end of the chapter," Tonks said sadly. "Who was next?"

"ME!" yelled Sirius and James.

"Was not! I'm next! I called it first! You're after me, Padfoot!" James cried.

"Fine!" Sirius conceded, and James took the book from Tonks, grinning broadly.

**A/N: 51 Pages on Word. Not my longest, but still pretty long. So, how was it? Tell me in your R-E-V-I-E-W!**

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	16. Challenges and Good Points

**A/N: Look! New chapter! I know the wait has been longer than usual. Really sorry for that. But let's get past that and just enjoy the new chapter! I would like to apologize especially to Margaret who is apparently close to death from the wait. Don't worry, here it is. Now the usual thank you to: dreamweaver34, Piscesfairy, marauder till death, deceased, lily rock, lunalover33, Bookflower, qwerty23131, ChristinaAngel, mcb1, SarahXPotter123, Hiei's Firefly, chibi libra-girl, emoduckie123, StephieyyPotter, Kalleyb, Guardian-Fawkes-Phoenix, keitaya, CloudyGumdrops, jadedragon36 and Chite, for adding me to their alerts/faves, and to all my amazing reviewers! You all rock. OK, enough said, now enjoy the story!**

"Alright, then. What's the chapter called, Prongs?" Sirius asked.

**The Forbidden Forest.**

Lily gasped. "Why do they have to go in there?"

"We'll see. It's alright, Lils. We go in there practically every day! Nothing to worry about!" James hugged her with one arm.

"Nothing to worry about? He's so young! There are terrible things in there!"

"Relax. He'll be alright."

**Things couldn't have been worse.**

"I bet they could have!" Sirius grinned.

"And I bet they will just because it said that!" James added.

"Don't say that, James!"

**Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other.**

"We were never that quiet. Padfoot always complained about getting caught."

**Hermione was trembling**

They grinned.

"Bet little miss perfect isn't used to getting into trouble," Frank smirked.

"And that's a bad thing, is it?" asked Alice.

**Excuses, alibis and wild cover-up stories chased each other around Harry's brain,**

"They never work, Harry," James said wisely. "She can always tell."

Sirius shuddered. "I don't know how she does it!"

**each more feeble than the last.**

"Never stops us from using them anyway," Sirius snorted.

**He couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time. They were cornered.**

"Well, it can't be worse than detention and a few points, right?" Frank asked.

"Yeah."

"Thank Merlin for that."

**How could they have been so stupid as to forget the Cloak?**

"Even the best make mistakes, Harry," James grinned. "Except me, seeing as I'm so damn perfect!"

Sirius snorted. "Yeah right!"

"Hey!"

**There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest astronomy tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes.**

"That sounds like a challenge!" Sirius exclaimed.

"No, Sirius, don't," Remus sighed.

"What?"

"Challenge! I have to come up with an excuse good enough!"

"I bet you can't come up with one!" James grinned.

"You're on, mate! How much?"

"Five Galleons!"

"Brilliant. Keep reading."

**Add Norbert and the Invisibility Cloak and they might as well be packing their bags already.**

"But no one knows about the cloak," James pointed out.

"But someone could find it."

**Had Harry thought that things couldn't have been worse? He was wrong.**

"I told you," James groaned. This had to be the first time that he was not happy about being right.

**When Professor McGonagall appeared, she was leading Neville.**

Their jaws dropped. Even Sirius stopped trying to make excuses.

"Neville?" Alice asked.

"What's he doing there?" Frank demanded.

"Easy, Frank!" Sirius said to calm him.

**"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other two. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag-"**

"IDIOT!" Sirius roared.

"OI!" yelled Frank. "DON'T YOU CALL MY BOY AN IDIOT, SIRIUS BLACK!"

Sirius gulped. He hadn't really thought about what he was saying.

"Sorry," he muttered. "It's just – now Harry's gonna get into even more trouble."

"And what about Neville?" Alice asked. "He's obviously in trouble too! And it's because of Harry!"

"Hey! Leave my kid out of this!" James cried.

"Well, Harry's the one –"

"HEY! Knock it off!" Tonks yelled, fed up. "These bloody kids aren't even born yet. It doesn't matter –"

"It does!"

"Shut up, Jimmy! It was neither of their fault. It was Malfoy's fault!"

"Yeah!" James growled. "Malfoy!"

"Malfoy!" Frank muttered in agreement.

"Well done," Remus whispered in her ear. Tonks grinned at him.

"Just get on with the book now."

**Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen.**

"Not good."

"No _really?"_ James said sarcastically.

**She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert**

"If any person could breathe fire, I'm sure it would be her!" Sirius shuddered.

"Definitely," James nodded.

**as she towered over the three of them.**

**"I would never have believed it of any of you.**

"Funny how she never says that to us anymore," Sirius grinned.

"Because she expects it from you," Severus said simply.

"Then why doesn't she expect it of Harry? He is Prongs' son after all," Sirius said.

"Good point, Paddy."

"Well, he's my son too!" Lily reminded them. "That's why!"

"Ah. Another good point," James grinned.

**Mr. Filch says you were up the astronomy tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. Explain yourselves."**

"Please, God, let them be smart enough not to answer!" James prayed.

**It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher's question.**

James couldn't help but snort. "It must be killing her."

"Better that than tell McGonagall a lie. Or worse … the truth!" Sirius said. Lily shook her head.

**She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue.**

Sirius sat still. "I-am-a-statue," he said rigidly.

"Then you won't move at all if I do … I don't know… _this!"_ James grinned, tickling Sirius.

"Ahh! Pro - ongs! Kn - knock it off! S - stop it, Jimmy!"

"Hey! How many times do I have to tell you – Don't ever call me Jimmy!"

"Then st – st – stop it!"

"Stop, James," Lily said sternly. James sighed and stopped.

**"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall.**

"I'll bet you don't," Tonks said.

"She always says that tired old line to us," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"And she's almost never right," James added. "Except that one time."

"When she figured out that – erm … go on, Prongs."

"What did she figure out?" Tonks asked eagerly.

**"It doesn't take a genius to work it out.**

"Well then, I guess I'm not a genius. Now tell me!" Tonks demanded.

"Tonks, that was from the book," James told her.

"Well, tell me, then."

"No."

"Yes!"

"No. End of discussion!"

"Sirius!"

"No!"

"Jimmy?"

"NO!"

**You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble.**

"Wrong."

**I've already caught him**.

"And that was brilliant," Sirius grinned.

**I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"**

James' jaw dropped open. "Harry is not happy about that!" he yelled angrily. "With Malfoy, yes, but Neville? No way!"

Frank looked at James approvingly.

**Harry caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt.**

"There's no need to," Frank said angrily.

**Poor, blundering Neville -**

"Hey!" Alice said equally angrily.

**Harry knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.**

Lily sighed. "He tried to help them but wound up getting caught himself."

**"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall.**

"She throws that at us once in a while too," Sirius said slowly.

"Not too much though. Definitely not first year."

**"Four students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before!**

"That's a lie!" James cried.

"Yeah! What about us Marauders?" Sirius yelled.

"We've been caught together plenty of times!" James said.

"You say that like it's a good think, Potter," Severus said.

"Guess you have a point," James shrugged, but he registered that Severus was calling him by his last name.

**You, Miss Granger, I thought you had more sense.**

"She does!" Tonks cried. "She knew they had to get rid of that bloody dragon."

**As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this.**

"What's that supposed to mean?" James asked worriedly.

**All three of you will receive detentions - yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom,**

Frank groaned.

**nothing gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous -**

"_These days?"_ James asked.

"Must have something to do with that Stone," Remus shrugged.

**and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."**

"That's not _that _bad. We've lost us plenty more before," James said reasonably.

**"Fifty?" Harry gasped -**

"NO!" James gasped. "Don't – ever – talk – back – to –McGonagall!"

"Why not?" asked Tonks.

"I have a feeling that you'll find out real soon," sighed James.

**they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match.**

Everyone except Severus and Lily groaned loudly.

"But he won that so excellently!"

"So quickly!"

"So expertly!"

**"Fifty points each,"**

James read the line slowly, twice, then stopped, his mouth held open in horror.

"FIFTY EACH!" Sirius yelled. "Bloody hell!"

"That's why you don't talk back," James sighed, shaking his head in frustration.

**said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long pointed nose. **

**"Professor - please -"**

"No more talking back!" James yelled. "Stop it!"

**"You can't-"**

"Just stop it! For the love of Gryffindor, STOP IT!: Sirius cried desperately.

**"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you.**

"Thank Merlin she isn't doing anything else," breathed James.

**I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."**

"They were doing a favour for Hagrid!" James thundered.

"Yeah! It wasn't their fault!" Sirius yelled.

"And I'm pretty sure she must have been more ashamed of these two when they hung all those Slytherins in our year upside down for no reason," Remus said fairly.

Severus winced.

"Sorry about that," James muttered.

"No you aren't."

"Yeah, I'm not," grinned James. "It was bloody funny."

"Or the time they woke up the entire castle at midnight," Remus added.

"Which time? We must have done that a million times."

"Or the time –"

"We get it, Moony. Enough already," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

**A hundred and fifty points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup.**

"Hagrid –" began James.

"It's not his fault," Lily said.

"Not his fault that he bought a dragon?"

"Well –"

"Exactly! I have half a mind to send him one of our unfinished sweets for Christmas!"

"James! You don't mean that! You know how Hagrid is! It's not his fault!" Lily said, shocked at his reaction.

**Harry felt as though the bottom had dropped out of his stomach.**

Sirius snorted. "That's an interesting analogy," he laughed.

"I'm surprised you know what an analogy is."

**How could they ever make up for this?**

"Don't think it's possible," Frank said solemnly.

"Don't say that!" James cried dramatically. "There's always a way!"

**Harry didn't sleep all night. He could hear Neville sobbing into his pillow for what seemed like hours.**

Frank mumbled something under his breath. Alice sighed.

**Harry couldn't think of anything to say to comfort him. He knew Neville, like himself, was dreading the dawn. What would happen when the rest of Gryffindor found out what they'd done?**

They all gulped.

"They're gonna murder them," Sirius said, shaking his head.

"Well, they haven't murdered us yet," James said reasonably.

"The most we've ever lost is one hundred. And we still came second for the cup. This … This is a lot more," Remus sighed. James groaned.

"We've done more than a hundred."

"Must have."

**At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hour-glass that recorded house points next day thought there'd been a mistake.**

"There are never mistakes," Sirius snorted. "They can't be changed unless a teacher docks points."

"You would know. He's tried to take hundreds of points from Slytherin," Remus grinned.

"That was one time!"

**How could they suddenly have a hundred and fifty points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter,**

James groaned.

**their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first-years.**

"My son is not stupid!" yelled Frank.

**From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated.**

"It'll pass," Sirius assured him. "Me and James have been hated plenty of times, and look at us now!"

"Green and bald," Tonks grinned. Sirius growled at her. Then he growled at James.

"Make it grow back."

"Nope."

"NOW!"

"Nope."

"PRONGS! I'm warning you!"

"Thanks, but no."

"Shut up! I've had enough coming out of the peanut gallery!" Lily snapped.

James and Sirius burst out laughing.

"The what?" James asked.

"The peanut gallery. It's a Muggle expression. Never mind."

**Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, **

"What? Why do they care?"

**because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup.**

"Oh," sighed James.

**Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him.**

"So nice of them," Alice said sarcastically.

**Slytherins, on the other hand,**

James growled.

**clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"**

James and Sirius fumed. Severus had enough sense to look ashamed.

**Only Ron stood by him.**

"A true mate," James nodded, grinning slightly.

**"They'll all forget this in a few weeks.**

"Probably true," Sirius said.

**Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."**

"Did they lose a hundred and fifty in one night?" James asked hopefully.

**"They've never lost a hundred and fifty points in one go, though, have they?" said Harry miserably.**

"Wasn't there that time when all four of us lost one fifty for knocking down all the statues?" James asked.

"That can't have lost a hundred and fifty points!" Tonks cried.

"Not usually, but they chose to do it at four a.m. All of the statues and suits of armour. At one time," Lily said.

"A true masterpiece," James sighed.

"That's one way to put it," snorted Severus.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'd say it was plain stupid!"

"Well, of course! That's the point! Why else would we do any of the stuff we do?" James asked. "Anyway, didn't we lose one fifty that time?"

"Nope. It was just one twenty. Thirty points each," Sirius said.

"Damn. So close."

"What?"

**"Well - no," Ron admitted.**

"Damn."

**It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on.**

"Now where's the fun in that?" Sirius asked.

"And he can't be telling us that he isn't gonna mess around with Snape and that stone!" James cried.

"Hey! It's not me that's –" Severus began, but James cut him off.

"Yeah, we know. It's not you. But that's what Harry thinks, innit?"

"So?"

"Never mind."

**He'd had it with sneaking around and spying.**

"Never."

**He felt so ashamed of himself**

"No need to be," James said. "We never are."

"James! Stop interrupting!" Lily yelled.

"Well, it's not really interrupting if I'm the one that's reading, Lily flower."

"Just read the bloody book, James!"

"Bloody book? Don't call it a bloody book! It's –"

"Whatever. Just read!"

"You could ask nicely!" James grinned.

"Stop being such a girl and read already, Jimmy!" Sirius yelled.

"Stop calling me Jimmy!"

"JUST READ!" Lily bellowed.

**He felt so ashamed of himself that he went to Wood and offered to resign the Quidditch team.**

James dropped the book.

"D – did he ju – just sa – say wh – what I think he said?" James asked in shock.

"He actually didn't say anything," Sirius pointed out.

"Shut up! He can't _quit_ the _team_! It's the _team_! The _Quidditch_ team!" James cried hysterically.

"Calm down, Jimmy. Breathe. Read," Sirius said.

"Right. Breathe. Read. Where were we?"

"He just said – "

"Don't say it!" James cried. "I know."

"Then why'd you ask?"

He picked up the book and began to riffle through to find the right page.

**"Resign?" Wood thundered. "What good'll that do? How are we going to get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?"**

"Exactly! Don't quit! Never quit!" James said.

**But even Quidditch had lost its fun.**

James clutched his heart.

"He's – Potter – Quidditch – Fun – Heart attack!"

"Calm down, Prongs. Stop being so over-dramatic!" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm not being … Over-dramatic? That's not a thing! That's not a word."

"Whatever. You know what I meant."

"But it's Quidditch! How can it not be fun?"

"Do you want me to read instead of you, Prongs?" Sirius offered.

James snapped out of it. "Never! I'm reading."

**The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice,**

"Why those –"

"James!"

**and if they had to speak about him, they called him 'the Seeker'.**

"He has a name!" James growled.

"Poor Harry," Lily sighed.

**Hermione and Neville were suffering too. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry,**

"Course not!" James yelled.

"And why not?" Frank asked.

"Everyone knows Harry! He's famous! The y don't know who Neville and Hermione are!" James explained.

"So my son isn't as good as yours?" Frank asked.

"What? That's not what I said!" James cried. "He's just as good as Harry!"

Frank muttered something.

"What's up with Frankie?" Sirius asked in a childish voice.

Frank growled at him. Sirius gulped. James quickly resumed his reading.

**because they weren't as well known, but nobody would speak to them either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence.**

Lily shook her head sadly. Sirius and James were laughing.

"What's so funny?" asked Severus.

"Hermione. I bet it's killing her not to answer questions." The others slowly began laughing.

**Harry was almost glad that the exams weren't far away.**

James' eyes widened.

**All the revision he had to do kept his mind off his misery. **

"Revision – Potter- No Quidditch – Harry – My son – Quidditch – STUDYING!" James cried.

"James, you're not making any sense at all," Alice said.

**He, Ron and Hermione kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells off by heart, memorize the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions ...**

"'Fraid that's impossible."

"Just make them up."

**Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry's new resolution not to interfere in anything that didn't concern him was put to an unexpected test.**

"Oh no!" Lily muttered. James and Sirius exchanged grins.

**Walking back from the library on his own one afternoon, he heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead.**

"Quirrell," snorted James.

**As he drew closer, he heard Quirrell's voice.**

"Knew it! Damn. I should've taken a bet."

"You've got a problem, mate," Sirius said, shaking his head.

**"No - no - not again, please-"  
It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry moved closer.  
"All right - all right -" he heard Quirrell sob.**

Severus frowned. "Did he hear anyone else's voice?"

"No," Remus said thoughtfully. "Interesting."

"How?" asked Sirius.

"I don't think you're capable of understanding," Remus smirked.

Sirius shrugged.

"Good point, Moony," James grinned.

**Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom, straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry.**

"What a wimp!" said Sirius.

**He strode out of sight; Harry didn't think Quirrell even noticed him. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty,**

"HAH!" Severus said triumphantly.

**but a door stood ajar at the other end.**

"Damn," Severus muttered.

**Harry was halfway towards it before he remembered what he'd promised himself about not meddling.**

"Damn."

**All the same, he'd have gambled twelve Philosopher's Stones that Snape had just left the room**

Severus groaned.

"Where would he get twelve Philosopher's Stones?" Sirius scoffed.

"It was just a metaphor, Paddy," James said, rolling his eyes.

"That wasn't a metaphor!" Sirius cried.

"It was."

"Not."

"Bunch of babies," Tonks said, rolling her eyes.

"If we're babies, what would that make you?"

"I'm more mature than you, that's for sure."

"You wish."

**and from what Harry had just heard, Snape would be walking with a new spring in his step - Quirrell seemed to have given in at last.**

"NO!"

"I don't think it was Snape," Remus said. Severus smiled at him.

"Care to elaborate?" asked Sirius.

"Another big word for Sirius! Congrats!" James cried.

"Shut it."

"Now why on earth would I do that?"

"Just shut it."

"Well, as I was saying," Remus said loudly, "I don't think it was Severus here because he could have used a number of other means to extract the information."

"Like what?" scoffed James.

"A truth potion!" Remus offered.

"Exactly!" Severus cried happily.

"We'll see," James said. "But that's a good point."

**Harry went back to the library, where Hermione was testing Ron on Astronomy. Harry told them what he'd heard.  
"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell -"**

"There's still Fluffy, though," Alice said.

"Hey! I thought we agreed it wasn't me!" Severus said indignantly.

"Even if it isn't you, someone else is trying to steal that stone, Snape," Alice said. "And they don't know how to get past Fluffy."

"Oh. Ok then."

**"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.**

Alice blinked. That hadn't happened to her before.

**"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid,"**

Severus rolled his eyes.

**said Ron looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them.**

James shuddered.

**"I bet there's a book somewhere in here, telling you how to get past a three-headed dog.**

James snorted. "I doubt that."

"Wanna bet?" Sirius grinned.

"How much?"

"I dunno. Five Galleons?"

"Wait. We already have a bet going on."

"So?" asked Alice, and Sirius said, "We do?"

"So we can't have any overlapping bets. It's a rule, otherwise we get confused."

"Wow."

"What bet?" asked Sirius.

"You said you could make up a passable excuse for being in the … erm … "

"Astronomy tower," Remus sighed.

"Yeah. The astronomy tower at midnight."

"Oh. I thought of that ages ago. I guess I forgot to tell you guys." Sirius paused for effect.

"Well?" demanded James.

"Simple. We tell her that Moony was having … erm," he looked at Tonks.

"What?"

Sirius leaned over and whispered the rest of it in James' ear.

"Damn," James sighed, and he handed over the money.

"What did he say?" Frank asked curiously.

"That's for us to know, and you to find out," Sirius smirked, counting the money happily.

"Gits," Frank said.

"Call me a git again and I'll stop reading!" James warned.

"Fine. Hand over the book, you git," Frank grinned.

"Hey!"

**So what do we do, Harry?"**

**The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes,**

"Ah, yes. The light," Sirius said reminiscently. "Don't you just love it?"

"No!" Lily cried. "Because it always means trouble coming from you!"

**but Hermione answered before Harry could.**

"Good," Alice sighed.

"Yes. She'll tell them to tell Mcgonagall or Dumbledore or someone," Lily said confidently.

**"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."**

Lily smiled.

"Spoilsport!" James and Sirius cried. Frank nodded his head in agreement.

"You can't honestly be saying that you agree with them!" Alice said heatedly. "If our son wanted to go gallivanting up against something dangerous would you want him to?"

Frank gulped. James and Sirius snickered. James made a whipping motion with his hand behind Alice's back.

"Who would've thought," He grinned.

"What?"

"Nothing!"

**"But we've got no proof!" said Harry.**

"Good point."

**"Quirrell's too scared to back us up.**

"Another good point."

**Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Hallowe'en and that he was nowhere near the third floor - who do you think they'll believe, him or us?**

James sighed. "They always believe the teachers. No one believed me when I said Filch framed us for that time his filthy cat got lost."

"But he _didn't_ frame you. It _was_ you!" Alice cried.

"Still," James muttered. "They didn't even stop to consider that we may have been telling the truth!"

"Do you ever?"

"Another good point," James grinned.

**It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked.**

"That doesn't really sound like Dumbledore," Severus said.

"Yeah," Frank agreed.

"But they hardly know him. It's only their first year and they've barely even talked to him," Remus said reasonably.

**Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape,**

"A little too friendly, perhaps?" James snickered.

"Hey! Black's the gay one, not me!" Severus cried. The others burst out laughing.

"Great. We got so far without a gay joke, and now even Snape's started!"

**and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think.**

"So true!" James said.

**And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy.**

"See? There are just too many reasons not to tell Dumbledore! And none not to do anything themselves!" Sirius grinned.

"There is too a reason!" Lilly yelled.

"What?"

"THEY COULD GET KILLED!" she bellowed.

"Oh yeah. That."

"Honestly," she said, shaking her head in disbelief.

**That'll take a lot of explaining."  
Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn't.**

**"If we just do a bit of poking around -"**

"Yes!" Sirius yelled. "Go Ron!"

**"No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough poking around."**

"Come on, son!" James encouraged. "Unleash the Marauder within you!"

"I hope that never comes out!" Lily cried.

**He pulled a map of Jupiter towards him and started to learn the names of its moons.**

"How – but – Stone – Snape – _ASTRONOMY?_" James finally managed to say.

"Well, be fair," Remus said. "We stayed quiet for about a month after we lost that many points for Gryffindor."

"Still."

"Stop moaning and read."

**The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Hermione and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:**

**Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the Entrance Hall.  
Prof. M. McGonagall**

"Detention time," sighed James.

"You think they'll separate them like they do with us?" Sirius asked.

"Maybe. But we didn't get that 'till second or maybe third year."

"But we didn't lose that many points first year," Sirius reasoned.

"True."

"If only they had the mirrors!"

"Yeah! Where are they, you reckon?"

"Who knows. Maybe Dumbledore has them," Sirius guessed. "He had you cloak, after all."

"Hmmm. Yeah. That might be it. Or one of you guys could have it."

"Well, we didn't have the cloak."

"Still."

"Yeah."

"Are you guys done talking?" Alice asked angrily.

They grinned. "Yes."

"What mirrors?" asked Tonks.

"We use them to talk when we have separate detentions. Bloody brilliant, those things. Saved us from a lot of boredom."

"Yup. Brilliant."

**Harry had forgotten they still had detentions to do in the furor over the points they'd lost.**

"I almost forgot about those too," Severus said.

**He half expected Hermione to complain that this was a whole night of revision lost,**

They snorted.

**but she didn't say a word. Like Harry, she felt they deserved what they got.**

"But it was Hagrid's fault!" Sirius complained.

"Sirius!"

**At eleven o'clock that night they said goodbye to Ron in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there -and so was Malfoy.**

"HAH! He had detention too! Sucker!"

**Harry had also forgotten that Malfoy had got a detention, too.  
"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside. "I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he continued, leering at them.**

"Can't count the number of times he's used that useless, tired old line on us."

**"Oh yes ... hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me ... It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out ... hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled incase they're ever needed ...**

"He's weird," Tonks said.

"Took you long enough to realize."

**Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."**

**They marched off across the grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Harry wondered what their punishment was going to be. It must be something really horrible, or Filch wouldn't be sounding so delighted.**

Lily gasped.

"What?"

"They must be going to the forest for detention!"

"No way! Students aren't allowed in there!"

"But the title!"

**The moon was bright,**

"Full moon?" Remus joked.

**but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout. "Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."**

**Harry's heart rose; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. **

"Brilliant."

**His relief mush have shown on his face, because Filch said, "I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf?**

"He is not an oaf!"

**Well, think again, boy - it's into the Forest you're going**

Lily, Alice and Tonks gasped.

"It's alright. Hagrid'll be there. He's been in there plenty of times. So've we. It's not that bad there."

**and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece."**

"That's nice of him. Creepy old git," James growled.

"How old d'you reckon he is? At least seventy or something!"

"Why?"

"Well, he was – is – ancient now, and he's still around twenty or so years from now, so he must be at least seventy or eighty."

"Yeah."

**At this, Neville let out a little moan and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.**

"Wuss," James muttered.

"You calling my son a wuss?" Alice said dangerously. James gulped. Frank looked mildly angry, but also amused.

"N – no. I – Erm – Malfoy! D – Draco!" James stuttered.

Then Alice suddenly burst out laughing. "Did you see the look on his face?"

James caught on as the others began laughing.

"That was not funny! That was – "

"What? "Alice asked in the dangerous voice again, and then began laughing again.

"Alright, alright. Get over it. It wasn't that funny."

"It was funnier than shaving my head!" Sirius said.

Alice stopped laughing. "No, it _wasn't_ that funny. Nothing can beat the green baldness."

Now James started laughing too.

"Shut up. When are you gonna grow it back? I need my hair."

"I'll think about it," James snickered.

"Prongs! I will have my hair back before we leave this room!"

"We'll see."

"PRONGS!"

**"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. **

"OI! Prongs!"

"Shut up!" James cried, and he Slienced him.

**"We can't go in there at night - there's all sorts of things there - werewolves, I heard."**

"Wonder where kids get that idea?" Remus asked sarcastically. They all laughed.

"What?" asked Tonks for what felt like the hundredth time.

"Nothing."

"I'm not stupid, you know," she said.

"Really?" James asked, pretending to be shocked.

She threw a face at him, as well as some snow, but didn't say anything to him. "I'll figure it out eventually. Like I did with the ani –"

"Well!" James said loudly. "Let's get on with the book."

**Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.**

Frank shook his head.

**"That's your lookout, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"**

"And what, may I ask, is wrong with werewolves?" Remus asked. Tonks frowned. Then a look of dawning realization crossed her face.

"That's it! You're a werewolf, aren't you?" she said excitedly.

Remus laughed nervously. "That's insane!"

"You know, you're about as bad at lying about this as Hagrid," she scoffed.

"But I'm not a –"

"Give it up, Moony," James said, rolling his eyes. "That was one werewolf crack too many. She's apparently not as stupid as she looks."

"Oh, thanks a lot."

"You're welcome."

Remus sighed. "Yes, I'm a werewolf," he admitted, looking at her apprehensively, expecting her to scream or something.

"Thank God I finally figured it out. It was driving me insane!" she said. Remus stared at her. "You're not … scared?"

"No? Why should I be? These idiots aren't."

"Hey!"

Remus smiled at her. Tonks grinned back.

"Well, now we all know. Woohoo. Let's get on with the book," Sirius said impatiently.

"When did you get free of the Silencing charm?" James frowned.

"I have my ways."

**Hagrid came striding towards them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.**

**"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Hermione?"**

**"I wouldn't be too friendly with them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they are here to be punished, after all."**

**"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot**

"Snot?"

Lily rolled her eyes. Alice snickered. Severus shook his head.

**your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."**

**"I'll be back at down," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back towards the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.**

"Why don't they shoot one of Hagrid's arrows at him?" Sirius said hopefully.

**Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.  
"I'm not going in that forest," he said, and Harry was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.**

"Big baby."

**"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."**

**"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do.**

"Bloody brat is just like his damn father!" James spat, throwing a snowball at no one to let out his anger.

"He may even be worse," Sirius said. "And I didn't think that's possible."

"He's even worse than that fat lump Harry has to call an uncle," Alice said angrily.

**I thought we'd be writing lines or something. if my father knew I was doing this,**

"Does the ickle baby Malfoy need dada to make the bad forest go away?" Sirius said in a voice one would use while talking to a baby.

The others looked at him weirdly.

"You need to go to the mental hospital one day, Paddy," James said.

"Yes, and I'll be sure to tell them all about you for when you check in," Sirius countered.

James couldn't think of anything else to say, so he continued reading.

**he'd -"**

**"- tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Writin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"**

"Pack! Pack! Pack!" chanted Sirius hopefully.

"Not gonna happen."

"Hey! A guy can hope, can't he? Pack! Pack! Pack!"

**Malfoy didn't move.**

"Damn."

**He looked at Hagrid furiously but then dropped his gaze.  
"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight**

Lily gasped again.

"It's alright. He'll be fine. He's with Hagrid!" James comforted her, putting his arm around her shoulders. Lily sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. Now it was harder for James to read because he had to hold the book with one hand, but it wasn't that bad. He managed.

**an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment.**

Severus glanced at Lily and James and a look of envy crossed his face.

**He led them to the very edge of the Forest. Holding his lamp up high he pointed down a long narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the Forest.**

Lily closed her eyes, whispering to herself.

**"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood.**

Lily shrieked. Alice gasped. Tonks clutched Remus' arm in horror, but quickly let go.

"Merlin! How'd they manage to kill a unicorn?"

"That's not the question we need to be asking, Padfoot," Remus said solemnly.

"We need to know who _they_ are that did it," James said quietly.

**There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."**

Tonks shuddered.

"That poor unicorn!" Lily whispered sadly.

**"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.**

"Little scaredy-cat," James taunted, but this time he didn't sound so convincing.

"I'd bloody well be scared too!" Alice said. "There's something out there fast and strong and evil enough to kill a unicorn! You'd be an idiot not to be a bit scared!"

James nodded his head.

**"There's nothin' that lives in the Forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions.**

"Merlin, please let Harry be with Hagrid!" Lily prayed.

"And Neville!" Alice said anxiously.

"And who cares about Hermione, right?" Sirius snorted.

"Oh, I forgot about her."

"How nice of you."

"Shut up! We're allowed to be worried about our sons."

**There's blood all over the place, it must've been staggerin' around since last night at least."**

"Can't we just skip this part of the book?" Tonks asked.

"It's part of the book. Something important might happen, and we'd miss it."

"Fine."

**"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.**

"Idiot. He's a right coward," Sirius laughed. "Hagrid would be way better."

**"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry an' Hermione'll go one way an' Draco, Neville an' Fang'll go the other.**

Lily looked relieved, but Alice looked downright terrified. "Noooooo!" she cried. Lily felt a bit guilty, so she said, "I'm sure nothing'll happen to him."

"Easy for you to say!" she said hysterically. "The entire book is about your son! Of course nothing's gonna happen to _him_!"

Lily frowned. "You don't know that. He could very well die at the end of this book!" Then she realized what she had just said and gasped, putting her hands over her mouth.

**Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practise now - that's it - an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh - so, be careful - let's go."**

"Why can't they just clean the trophies in the trophy room or something?" Lily said angrily.

"Because we have cleaned them so many times now that they will probably never need it ever again," Sirius smirked.

**The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path and Harry, Hermione and Hagrid took the left path while Malfoy, Neville and Fang took the right.  
They walked in silence, their eyes on the ground.**

**Every now and then a ray of moonlight through the branches above lit a spot of silver blue blood on the fallen leaves.  
Harry saw that Hagrid looked very worried.  
"Could a werewolf be killing the unicorns?" Harry asked.**

"Why jump to werewolves?" Tonks said angrily.

"Thank you, Tonks," Remus smiled. She blushed slightly.

"Are werewolves even fast enough to catch unicorns? "Tonks asked quickly.

"No, we are not."

**"Not fast enough," said Hagrid. "It's not easy ter catch a unicorn, they're powerful magic creatures. I never knew one ter be hurt before."**

"Well that can't mean anything good."

"Well observed, Paddy."

**They walked past a mossy tree-stump. Harry could hear running water; there must be a stream close by. There were still spots of unicorn blood here and there along the winding path.  
"You all right, Hermione?" Hagrid whispered. "Don' worry, it can't've gone far if it's this badly hurt an' then we'll be able ter - GET BEHIND THAT TREE!"**

Lily clutched James' arm, Alice grabbed Frank's arm, and Tonks grabbed Remus. He looked down at her and frowned slightly, but then relaxed and let her hold on as she seemed so frightened.

James and Sirius went pale. Severus frowned and gulped. James almost didn't want to find out what they had seen. He skimmed ahead. He decided it wasn't that bad, so he read aloud again.

**Hagrid seized Harry and Hermione and hoisted them off the path behind a towering oak. he pulled out an arrow and fitted it into his crossbow, raising it, ready to fire. The three of them listened. Something was slithering over dead leaves nearby; it sounded like a cloak trailing along the ground.**

"What is it?" Lily gasped quietly.

**Hagrid was squinting up that dark path, but after a few seconds, the sound faded away.**

Sirius, who had been sitting on edge, said, "Damn. Got away."

"Damn?" Lily said incredulously, letting go of James. "You should be glad whatever that was went away!"

**"I knew it," he murmered. "There's summat in here that shouldn't be."  
"A werewolf?" Harry suggested.**

"They shouldn't keep saying stuff about werewolves," Tonks frowned.

**"That wasn' no werewolf an' it wasn' no unicorn, neither," said Hagrid grimly. "Right, follow me, but careful, now."**

"Just let them go back to the castle!" Lily begged desperately.

**They walked more slowly, ears straining for the faintest sound. Suddenly, in a clearing ahead, something definitely moved.**

They gulped.

"Oh Merlin!" Lily gasped.

**"Who's there?" Hagrid called. "Show yerself - I'm armed!"**

**And into the clearing came - was it a man, or a horse?**

"Just a centaur," breathed Lily, thoroughly relieved.

**To the waist, a men, with red hair and beard, but below that was a horse's gleaming chestnut body with a long, reddish tail. Harry and Hermione's jaws dropped.**

"Oh, right. They were both raised by Muggles," Sirius said. James frowned, thinking hard. Then he whispered something to Sirius, who nodded.

"What?"

"I think we've seen him before, that's all."

"Really?"

**"Oh, it's you, Ronan," said Hagrid, patting his crossbow.**

**"There's summat bad loose in this Forest. This is harry Potter an' Hermione Granger, by the way. Students up at the school. An' this is Ronan, you two. He's a centaur."**

"I think they realized, Hagrid."

**"We'd noticed," said Hermione faintly.**

**"Good evening," said Ronan. "Students, are you? And do you learn much, up at the school?"**

**"Erm-"**

**"A bit," said Hermione timidly.**

"Of all people I would've thought that Hermione would have something more to say than 'a bit'!"

**"A bit. Well, that's something." Ronan sighed. He flung back his head and stared at the sky. "Mars is bright tonight."**

**"Yeah," said Hagrid glancing up too. "Listen, I'm glad we've run inter yeh, Ronan, 'cause there's a unicorn bin hurt - you seen anythin'?**

**Ronan didn't answer immediately. He stared unblinkingly upwards, then sighed again.  
"Always the innocent are the first victims," he said. "So it has been for ages past, so it is now."**

"Why do they never answer properly?" asked Severus.

"Nope. Never."

"It'd like they get fun out of being annoying."

**"Yeah," said Hagrid, "but have yeh seen anythin', Ronan? Anythin' unusual?"  
"Mars is bright tonight," Ronan repeated while Hagrid watched him impatiently. "Unusually bright."**

"He meant something on earth."

**"Yeah, but I was meanin' anythin' unusual a bit nearer home," said Hagrid. "So yeh haven't noticed anythin' strange?"**

**Yet again, Ronan took a while to answer. At last, he said, "The Forest hides many secrets."**

"Well that sure helps."

**A movement in the trees behind Ronan made Hagrid raise his bow again, but it was only a second centaur, black-haired and - bodied and wilder looking than Ronan.**

"Reckon we've seen that one too, right," James whispered to Sirius.

"I think so," he whispered back.

**"Hullo, Bane," said Hagrid. "All right?"**

**"Good evening, Hagrid, I hope you are well?"**

**"Well enough. Look, I've jus' bin askin' Ronan, you seen anythin' odd in here lately? Only there's a unicorn bin injured - would yeh know anythin' about it?"**

"He's going to say the same thing," Remus sighed.

"You don't know that," Sirius said.

**Bane walked over to stand next to Ronan. He looked skywards.  
"Mars is bright tonight," he said simply.**

Sirius sighed. "We've heard," he said grumpily.

**"We've heard," said Hagrid grumpily.**

Sirius shook his head. James grinned.

**"Well, if either of you do see anythin', let me know, won't yeh? We'll be off, then."**

**Harry and Hermione followed him out of the clearing, staring over their shoulders at Ronan and Bane until the trees blocked their view.**

**"Never," said Hagrid irritably, "try an' get a straight answer out of a centaur. Ruddy star-gazers. Not interested in anythin' closer'n the moon."**

"And believe me, that gets annoying," Sirius said.

"How would you know?" Tonks asked suspiciously.

"Well, you can't expect us to have gone into the Forest and not have seen any centaurs!"

**"Are there many of them in here?" asked Hermione.**

"Quite a few."

**"Oh, a fair few ... Keep themselves to themselves mostly, but they're good enough about turnin' up if I ever want a word. They're deep, mind, centaurs ... they know things ... jus' don' let on much."**

"And that's dead frustrating, that is."

**"D'you think that was a centaur we heard earlier?" said Harry.  
"Did that sound like hooves to you? Nah, if yeh ask me, that was what's bin killin' the unicorns - never heard anythin' like it before."**

"Oh no! Why don't they get out of there?" Lily shrieked.

**They walked on through the dense, dark trees. Harry kept looking over his shoulder. He had the nasty feeling they were being watched.**

"Urgh. I hate that," Sirius shuddered.

**He was very glad they had Hagrid and his crossbow with them.**

"I hope Neville is OK," Alice said.

**They had just passed a bend in the path when Hermione grabbed Hagrid's arm.  
"Hagrid! Look! Red sparks**

"OH NO!" shrieked Alice. Frank became very pale. The others looked at each other worriedly.

**the others are in trouble!"**

"Let's hope only Malfoy's in trouble."

**"You two wait here!" Hagrid shouted.**

"What? Take them with you!" Lily cried.

"And let them see whatever it was that the others are facing?"

**"Stay on the path, I'll come back for yeh!"  
They heard him crashing away through the undergrowth and stood looking at each other, very scared, until they couldn't hear anything but the rustling of leaves around them.**

"Merlin I hope everyone's alright!"

"How can they get students – First year students – to go into the Forest?" Alice demanded.

**"You don't think they've been hurt, do you?" whispered Hermione.**

"Oh, don't say that!"

**"I don't care if Malfoy has,**

"That's the way to think, Harry," James grinned.

**but if something's got Neville ... It's our fault he's here in the first place."**

Lily's eyes watered slightly.

"It's alright. They'll be fine."

**The minutes dragged by. Their ears seemed sharper than usual. Harry seemed to be picking up every sigh of the wind, every cracking twig. What was going on? Where were the others?**

**At last, a great crunching noise announced Hgrid's return. Malfoy, Neville and Fang were with him.**

"Thank Merlin," breathed Alice.

**Hagrid was fuming. Malfoy, it seemed, had sneaked up behind Neville and grabbed him for a joke. Neville had panicked and sent up the sparks.**

"Bloody, slimy little Slytherin git!" Sirius snarled.

**"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups - Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang an' this idiot.**

"WHAT?" yelled James. "Why the bloody hell does Harry have to be with that jerk?"

"Calm down, James."

"I will not! I don't want Harry near that boy! He might contaminate him!"

"Stop overreacting and keep reading, Prongs," Remus sighed tiredly.

**"I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we gotta get this done."**

"Well, there's your answer, Prongs," Sirius said.

"Stupid git," James mumbled.

"Speaking of stupid gits, James, when will you grow my hair back?" Sirius asked.

"I am not a stupid git!"

"Then be a good mate and grow the hair back."

"He'll do it if you don't talk for the rest of the chapter," Lily said.

"I will?" James asked.

"Yes, you will. But I don't think you'll have to. He'll never be able to shut up."

"That sounds like a challenge!" Sirius said. "You're on!"

"Thank God," Frank said.

**So Harry set off into the heart of the Forest with Malfoy and Fang. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the Forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick.**

**Harry thought the blood seemed to be getting thicker.**

"That poor unicorn," Tonks said sadly.

**There were splashes on the roots of a tree as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by.**

They all shuddered.

"What would do something like that?" Alice asked.

Remus thought he knew, but he didn't think it would be wise to share it.

**Harry could see a clearing ahead, through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.**

"A …. Clearing?" Remus frowned.

"Stay away from it!" James warned.

**"Look -" he murmured, holding out his arm to stop Malfoy.**

Sirius was jumping up and down, dying to talk, bursting with words.

**Something bright white was gleaming on the ground.**

"The unicorn," Remus muttered.

"Get away from it!" Lily cried.

"That isn't the Potter way, Lily," James smirked.

"Who gives a damn about the Potter way? If something happens to him –"

"He'll be fine. It's just an injured unicorn."

"But what if the thing that hurt it is there too!"

"Oh. Right. It … er ... let's just see."

**They inched closer.**

Sirius bounced up and down even more.

"This is even better than Silencing him and using Rectusempra!" Alice commented, lightening the mood.

**It was a unicorn all right, and it was dead.**

Lily wiped away a tear.

"At – at least it's out of its misery," James said solemnly.

Lily hid her face in his shoulder. Alice did the same on Frank's shoulder. Tonks hid her face in a cushion.

**Harry had never seen anything so beautiful and sad. Its long slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly white on the dark leaves.**

"Do they have to describe it?" Tonks said, closing her eyes.

**Harry had taken one step towards it when a slithering sound made him freeze where he stood.**

They all froze.

"Oh no!" Lily cried.

"Oh God no."

"Please let it be a snake or something!" James begged. He didn't want to read on.

"Er – Should I read, Prongs?" Remus offered. James nodded his head and handed over the book, then hugged Lily.

**A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered ...**

**Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast.**

The girls screamed. Even Tonks, who was hardly scared of anything.

The boys stared wide-eyed at the book.

**Harry, Malfoy and Fang stood transfixed.**

"Run," muttered James.

"RUN!" Lily yelled.

"GET OUT!"

"GO GO GO!"

"SEND UP THE BLOODY SPARKS!" James cried.

**The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, it lowered its head over the wound in the animal's side, and began to drink its blood.**

"Oh …"

"My …"

"God …"

Tonks buried her head in a pillow. James hugged Lily, who was partially crying. Sirius stared at the book. Severus looked away from it in disgust.

"What kind of a monster drinks unicorn blood?" James spat in disgust.

"A very, very, very evil and desperate one," Remus said.

"Unicorn blood. Doesn't that give you a cursed life or something?" Alice asked.

"Yes. Yes it does," Severus answered quietly. They all stared at the book I silence, not wanting to go on. Eventually, though, Remus continued.

**"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"  
Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted -**

"Idiot!" James cursed. "Now it's gonna see them. Damn it!"

**so did Fang.**

"Cowards!" Severus cried.

**The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry -**

They froze again.

"RUN HARRY!" they all, except Sirius, who was finding it hard to stay quiet, yelled.

**unicorn blood was dribbling down its front.**

"GET – OUT – OF – THERE!" Lily yelled desperately.

**It got to its feet and came swiftly towards him -**

"NO NO NO NO NO!" yelled Lily.

"RUN!"

**he couldn't move for fear.**

"Screw fear and run!"

**Then a pain pierced his head like he'd never felt before, it was as though his scar was on fire -**

"His … scar?" Remus said thoughtfully. "Why would that be hurting?"

**half-blinded,**

"Well that can't be good."

"Well noticed, Dora," James scoffed.

"Shut up, Jimmy."

**he staggered backwards. He heard hooves behind him, galloping,**

"Hooves?" James asked hopefully. "Is it one of the centaurs?"

**and something jumped clean over him, charging at the figure.**

"Thank Merlin," Lily sighed in relief.

**The pain in Harry's head was so bad he fell to his knees.**

Lily and James' eyes widened.

**It took a minute or two to pass. When he looked up, the figure had gone. A centaur was standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blonde hair and a palomino body.**

**"Are you all right?" said the centaur, pulling Harry to his feet.  
"Yes - thank you - what was that?"**

"As long as Harry's OK, I don't think I want to find out!" James said.

"Me neither," Severus agreed.

**The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar which stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.**

**"You are the Potter boy," he said.**

"That's a nice way to put it."

**"You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time -**

"It is never safe!" Lily yelled.

"Easy, Lils. I might go deaf."

"Shut up, James!"

**especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way. My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Harry could clamber on to his back.**

"Aw, they never let us ride them," James moaned, happier now that he knew Harry was safe.

"Not that we asked," Remus added. "But Padfoot did … _hint_ at it a lot, to say the least." Sirius rolled his eyes.

**There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.**

"Uh Oh," James and Remus said together.

"What?" asked Tonks.

"Centaurs are … very proud creatures. The others won't like the fact that there's a human sitting on his back. Not one little bit," James explained.

**"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have a man on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"**

"You see?" Remus said.

"What's wrong with helping a lost and scared student?" Tonks cried.

"For centaurs … everything to do with us is wrong. They think they're better and smarter than us," Remus said.

"In some cases it's true," James grinned, looking pointedly at Sirius, who threw him a dirty look.

"I can't believe he hasn't said anything yet," Lily grinned.

"There's still plenty of the chapter left, Lily flower."

Sirius groaned.

**"Do you realize who this is?" said Firenze.**

"That's my son!" James yelled.

"You know, maybe I should shave James and make the same deal with him too," Lily whispered to Alice, who giggled loudly.

"Hey! I heard that!" James said. "You wouldn't do that to me – er – would you?" he added uncertainly.

"We'll see."

**"This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves the Forest, the better."**

**"What have you been telling him?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"**

**Ronan pawed the ground nervously.  
"I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he said, in his gloomy voice.**

"Exactly! He's a big boy, he can do what he wants to."

**Bane kicked his legs in anger.  
"For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our Forest!"**

"Our Forest, did he say?" Tonks frowned.

"They're dead possessive about the forest and their land. Never trespass to their area without Hagrid if you want to see the light of day again," James warned them.

"Don't worry, we don't go looking for trouble like some people," Severus said.

"Well good for you, then. Be boring"

**Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger,**

"But Harry could fall!" Alice said.

**so that Harry had to grab his shoulders to stay on.**

"Alright, then. But he should be more careful!"

**"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret?**

James and Sirius snickered.

'Hah! That counts as talking!" James cried. Sirius looked outraged.

"Just kidding, Paddy," James laughed.

**I set myself against what is lurking in this Forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."**

"Thank God at least one of 'em is normal. How come we haven't seen Firenze before?" James asked.

"What, have you seen the other two?"

"Well, we didn't know them by name, but I've seen that description under the cloak a few times. Right frightening the first time round, seeing the centaurs prowling around with their arrows and almost smelling you out," James shuddered.

"Never seen Firenze, though," Remus added. "No … erm … white-blonde hair with a palomino body."

"Nope."

"Does it even matter?"

"Not really. Just thought you'd like to know."

"Well, we wouldn't next time."

"Ok. If you say so."

**And Firenze whisked around; with Harry clutching on as best he could, they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them.  
Harry didn't have a clue what was going on.  
"Why's Bane so angry?" he asked. "What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"**

"What could it have been?" James asked in a quiet voice.

Remus frowned.

"What?" James asked.

"Nothing."

"You know, don't you?"

"I have a … an idea."

"Well?"

"Frankly, I think it's Voldemort." The others looked at him in shock.

"What?"

"No way!"

"It can't be!"

"Oh Merlin! Harry just saw Voldemort!"

"Amazing he's still alive!"

"Is that why his scar hurt?" Tonks asked.

"Maybe," Remus said thoughtfully.

**Firenze slowed to a walk, warned Harry to keep his head bowed in case of low-hanging branches but did not answer Harry's questions.**

**They made their way through the trees in silence for so long that Harry thought Firenze didn't want to talk to him anymore. They were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.**

**"Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"**

"Does he honestly expect a firstie to know that?" James scoffed. Tonks frowned.

"Yeah, even Prongs here doesn't know that!" Remus laughed.

"What? I do to!"

"What, then?"

"It's – erm – uhh – for – that's – it's – ARGH! Fine, I don't know. Happy?"

"Immensely," Alice smirked.

"Shut up, Prewett!"

"You shut up, Potter!"

"Make me!"

"Silencio!"

"She made you. You asked for it, James," Lily laughed.

"**No," said Harry, startled by the odd question. "We've only used the horn and tail-hair in Potions."  
"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenseless to save yourself and you will have but a half life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."**

"Didn't we mention that before?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah," Severus said.

"So it's got to be Voldemort, then," Frank said.

"Must be."

'I knew he couldn't be dead. It was too damn good to be true,' James wrote with his wand.

**Harry stared at the back of Firenze's head, which was dappled silver in the moonlight.  
"But, who'd be that desperate?" he wondered aloud.**

"Voldemort," those of them who could still speak said. James threw a snowball at Remus, who sighed and released the Silencing charm.

**"If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"**

"Definitely," Frank said solemnly.

**"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else - something that will bring you back to full strength and power - something that will mean you can never die.**

They all gasped.

"He's after the Philosopher's Stone!" yelled Tonks.

"Oh Merlin!"

"See, I knew it wasn't me," Severus said quietly.

**Mr. Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"  
"The Philosopher's Stone! Of course - the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who -"**

"Harry, don't be dull," James said.

"He can't help it, Jimmy. He's too much like you, and not enough like Lily," Frank teased.

**"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"**

**It was as though an iron fist had clenched suddenly around Harry's heart. Over the rustling of the trees, he seemed to hear once more what Hagrid had told him on the night they had met: "Some say he died. Codswallop, in my opinion. Dunno if he had enough human left in him to die."**

"Merlin, that part of the book seems like it was ages and ages ago, doesn't it?" James said in a far-away voice.

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "So much has happened since then."

**"Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was Vol-"  
"Harry! Harry, are you all right?"**

"Luckily, he is," Lily smiled.

**Hermione was running towards them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.  
"I'm fine," said Harry, hardly knowing what he was saying. "The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."**

**"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."  
Harry slid off his back.**

**"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."**

"They are hardly ever wrong, though," Remus sighed.

**He turned and cantered back into the depths of the Forest, leaving Harry shivering behind him. Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to return. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook him awake.**

"Wow. I don't think I've ever gone this long without thinking about Quidditch," James grinned.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Well, at least not since the beginning of the book," he added.

**In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry began to tell him and Hermione what had happened in the Forest.  
Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He was still shaking.**

"He needs to calm down a bit."

**"Snape wants the stone for Voldemort ...**

"Oh come on!" Severus cried out angrily. The others laughed a bit.

"He's definitely my son if he hates Snape that much," James laughed. "Erm, I mean, er, I used to. Er, we're best of friends now," he added hastily as Lily shot him a frightening glare.

Severus half-laughed at that.

**and Voldemort's waiting in the Forest ... and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich ..."**

"IT"S NOT ME!" Severus thundered.

"Wow. Who knew you had it in you, Sna – Severus," James corrected himself.

"It's just frustrating. I know it's not me."

"Alright, if you're sure, five Galleons says it isn't Severus here trying to steal it. Any takers?" James asked.

Sirius raised his eyebrows and shook James' hand as a way of a silent agreement.

"Brilliant."

**"Stop saying that name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them.**

"Ron," James said, "Fear of a name only … er … something something something, I forgot."

Remus laughed. "It's fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself."

"I was half right. Good enough."

**Harry wasn't listening.  
"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done ... Bane was furious ... he was talking about **

**interfering with what the planets say is going to happen ... They must show that Voldemort's coming back ... Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me ...**

"Oh, that's nice of him," James said angrily.

"I can't believe Harry managed to figure all that out," Frank said. "He must have more of Lily in him than we all thought."

"Haha. Very funny. Whatever."

**I suppose that's written in the stars as well."**

**"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed.**

"Come on! He's being just like Wormtail!"

**"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off ...**

"What? No freaking way! I'll kill Voldemort myself if he comes near Harry!" James growled furiously.

**Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."**

"Maybe I'll kill that guy first."

"Calm down, James."

**Hermione looked vetry frightened, but she had a work of comfort.  
"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune telling to me, and Professor Mcgonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."**

"She always says that."

**The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. they went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over.**

"Oh Merlin, what could possibly happen now?" Lily cried.

**When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his Invisibility Cloak folded neatly underneath them.**

"Ah. Brilliant," James grinned.

**There was a note pinned to it:**

_**Just in case**_**.**

"God that was lucky," James said.

"Must have been Dumbledore," Sirius said.

"HAH! You talked! You're staying bald for another chapter."

"No! It's the end!"

"Damn. Oh, Wait! If I recall correctly, you said something earlier."

"I did not!"

"You said Oh my God when we heard that Voldemort was drinking the unicorn's blood."

"What! I did not!"

"Well, you said part of it," James said.

"Yeah," Remus agreed. "James said Oh, I said My, and you said God, Paddy!"

"Noo!"

"Yes you did!"

"Crap!"

"One more chapter of Silence, and I'll grow it back, OK. Now be a good little puppy and sit quietly."

"But I was supposed to read!"

"I guess if you don't want you hair to grow back then you can read."

"Fine!" But the second my hair is back I'm reading! After this chapter!"

"Alright, Paddy. So who's next?" James asked, holding up the book.

"I'll go next," Frank offered.

"Here you go," James said, leaning over to hand him the book.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed it! Not the longest. 47 pages on Word. Oh well. You guys know the drill. R-E-V-I-E-W!! I'm on 282! 18 more! We can do that! Then I'll go for 350!!  
**


	17. Can Sirius Do It?

**A/N: This is it. It's almost over. Can you believe it? But don't worry … I'm definitely moving on to the next book (CoS). **

**Thank you to Jazzy Snape, wulfie's tiggy, lmi88, Darkcatlover2468, Nosi, PrettyFanGirl, evemusings, CwamBeta, LRGator and starlitenite28 for adding me to their alerts/faves. Special thanks to Dazedandconfused8616 for reviewing almost all of the chapters since they added me to their faves, and to for the idea! I would like to apologize to Goldenfeather for not using their idea. While I love it, and really want to use it, it just doesn't fit in anywhere. Sorry!**

**Well, Enjoy the Double Dose of the Marauders and Co.!**

"Go on then, Frankie!" Sirius urged.

"Hey!" Frank warned him.

"You're supposed to be silent!"

"Argh. Fine."

"This ought to be a peaceful chapter," Severus smiled.

Frank smirked. "Guess again," he said. "The chapter's called Through the Trapdoor!"

"Oh no!" Lily gasped. "Why are they going in there? They're gonna get murdered!"

James, on the other hand, was ecstatic. "They're going through the Trapdoor! Yes! They're gonna get past Fluffy! Oh this must be killing you!" he added to Sirius, who made a sour face. "This is like the best chapter!"

"Let's get on with it then."

**Through the Trapdoor**

"Yeah, yeah. We already know the title."

"Shut _up_ James!"Lily said anxiously.

"Relax, Lils. He'll be fine."

"That's not it. Shut up!"

**In years to come,**

"Hah. That means he'll live!"

**Harry would never quite remember how he had managed to get through his exams when he half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at an moment.**

"That's nice. How are we supposed to concentrate with that on our minds?"

"You hardly concentrate anyway, Prongs," Remus sighed.

**Yet the days crept by and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.**

"That's good," James grinned.

"We're like two sentences into the book and already I have half a mind to –"

"You only have half a mind?" James asked incredulously. "Merlin, imagine how smart she'd be with a full one!"

"Shut up James! It's an expression! I have half a mind to shave off your hair and get you to be silent too!"

"You wouldn't!" he gasped.

"Try me!"

He did.

**It was swelteringly hot, especially in the large classroom where they did their written exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.**

"We just got those last year, remember?" James smirked. "I don't know how Wormy made it through."

"He cheats?" Lily gasped.

"Sure he does. How else d'you think he's made NEWTs?"

"But you're not supposed to cheat!"

"No kidding! It's practically killing Moony, too. But Pete wouldn't make it without us. You know what? I'll bet we're the reason they put the anti-cheating thing on. Poor Wormy. He had no way to see them coming."

**They had practical exams as well.**

"Well of course."

"You can't cheat those."

**Professor Flitwick called them one by one into his class to see if they could make a pineapple tap-dance across a desk.**

"Doesn't branch out much, does he? He made us do the same thing first year," James snorted. "I did it perfectly, of course!"

"Lair!" Remus snorted. "His was all floppy!"

"Was not!"

"Was too! You told us about it!"

"That's nothing compared to Paddy's, then! His was pretty much being dragged around the table!"

"It was not!" Sirius bellowed, before putting his hands over his mouth.

"HAH! You're not getting your hair back!" James smirked.

"No! I'll be quiet the rest of the chapter! I promise! I need my hair back!" Sirius begged.

James gave an over exaggerated sigh and looked at Lily.

"Fine," Lily sighed. "At least he'll stay quiet that way. One more chance, since it's only the beginning of the chapter."

**Professor McGonagall watched them turn a mouse into a snuff-box - points were given for how pretty the snuff-box was, but taken away if it had whiskers.**

"That's the same too!"

**Snape made them all nervous,**

Severus groaned.

**breathing down their necks while they tried to remember how to make a Forgetfulness Potion.**

"Isn't that bloody ironic?" Frank snorted.

"How?" James asked.

"They're trying to _remember _how to make a _forgetfulness _Potion!"

"Oh. Right. I don't get it."

"Idiot."

"Yup. That's me!"

**Harry did the best he could, trying to ignore the stabbing pains in his forehead which had been bothering him ever since his trip into the Forest. Neville thought Harry had a bad case of exam nerves **

**because Harry couldn't sleep, but the truth was that Harry kept being woken by his old nightmare, except that it was now worse than ever because there was a hooded figure dripping blood in it.**

They all shuddered. "That isn't good."

"That would keep me up at night for sure," Severus whispered.

"No kidding!"

**Maybe it was because they hadn't seen what Harry had seen in the Forest,**

"Yeah. Only he had to see Voldemort!" James cried.

**or because they didn't have scars burning on their foreheads,**

"Yeah!"

**but Ron and Hermione didn't seem as worried about the Stone as Harry.**

Sirius' jaw dropped. James gaped at the book.

"But it's the Stone! Someone's trying to steal it!"

"Well, be fair, Prongs," Remus reasoned. "She_ is_ Hermione, and they _are_ having exams after all."

"I guess. Still. It's the Stone!"

**The idea of Voldemort certainly scared them, but they didn't keep visiting them in dreams,**

They all shuddered again.

"Poor Harry," muttered Lily sadly.

**and they were so busy with their revision they didn't have much time to fret about what Snape**

"HEY!" Severus yelled.

"Calm down, Snape. If you know it's not you, then this shouldn't bother you so much," James said irritably.

"I can't believe that _he's _the one that's annoyed right now," Severus said incredulously.

"I completely agree, Sev," Lily laughed.

"Thanks a lot."

Sirius' mouth quivered. He was once again dying to talk.

**or anyone else might be up to.**

"Thank you! Finally!"

**Their very last exam was History of magic.**

"Ah, they sure do know how to save the best for last!" Alice said sarcastically.

"But he can really just bluff his way through that one. Everyone does. Well, everyone except Hermione, I'll bet," James snorted.

**One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons**

"Wasn't that that bloke with the impossibly long name?" James asked.

"Yes. Georgionovic Ludiscrionton, and there was more than just one wizard," Lily said.

"Now how on earth do you remember something like that?" James asked incredulously.

"Not everyone's mind isn't built only to retain pranks and Quidditch tactics, James," Lily scoffed.

"Really? What else is there?"

"Oh, very funny."

"I know. Thanks."

**and they'd be free,**

"Woohoo! Freedom!" James grinned. Then he frowned and added, "Well, at least until the results come out."

**free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out.**

"But that's the best week of the entire year!" James grinned. "I can't wait till it comes!"

"For god's sake it's only October, Prongs."

"So?"

**When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, Harry couldn't help cheering with the rest.**

"He wouldn't be normal if he could!"

**"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione,**

"Of course that's what she says."

**as they joined the crowds flocking out into the sunny grounds. "I needn't have learnt about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct**

Everyone's jaw fell open.

"I don't even remember what that was _about!_" Remus cried. "And I'm a bloody werewolf!"

**or the uprising of Elfric the Eager.**

"Merlin. I swear, she's too keen for her own good!"

**Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterwards,**

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it?" Alice said, looking pointedly at Lily.

"What?" Lily asked innocently.

**but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree.**

"Ahh," James sighed. "Much better."

**The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan**

"Brilliant. They should be up to something fun!" James grinned.

**were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid,**

"Oh, we must've done that a million times!"

"He likes it," Remus nodded.

**which was basking in the warm shallows.  
"No more revision," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done,**

James snorted.

**there's no need to worry yet."**

"Harry doesn't need to worry!" James said. "With me and Lily as his parents, he's bound to get O's in everything!"

"Assuming he doesn't have too much of James, that is," Lily added in a stage whisper.

"I heard that!"

"I think you were meant to," Severus snorted.

**Harry was rubbing his forehead.  
"I wish I knew what this means!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting - it's happened before, but never as often as this."**

James and Lily looked extremely worried.

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," James suggested.

**"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.**

James' eyes widened. "He – she – Hermione – Me – Ahh!" he rambled.

The others burst out laughing.

**"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning ... it means danger's coming ..."**

They all stopped laughing.

"Danger?" Remus frowned.

"That can't be good."

**Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot. "Harry, relax, Hermione's right, the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around.**

"But he isn't always around," Remus said quietly. Tonks, who was closest to him and heard it the most clearly, turned to stare at him.

"He leaves the school?"

"Course he does," James snorted. "He has a life, you know!"

"Still. It can't be safe with the Stone around!"

"Yeah."

**Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy.**

Severus just rolled his eyes.

**He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry.**

"Not necessarily true," James commented. "He messes with us all the time, no matter how much we do to him. That's guts."

"Uh … Thanks, Potter … I think," Severus said slowly.

**And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."**

"Hey!" Frank yelled indignantly. "My son is capable of anything!"

"Yeah!" Alice cried.

"And if Hagrid can think of raising a dragon, he sure as hell can –"

"No," James said. "No. Hagrid wouldn't – he just wouldn't do that."

**Harry nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important.**

**When he tried to explain this, Hermione said, "That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I realised we'd done that one."**

"Good god. I don't think that's Harry's problem exactly."

**Harry was quite sure the unsettled feeling didn't have anything to do with work, though. He watched an owl flutter towards the school across the bright blue sky, a note clamped in its mouth. Hagrid was the only one who ever sent him letters.**

"You prats couldn't possibly write to my boy? Tell him he's not all alone with those ugly Dursleys!" James snapped unexpectedly.

Sirius opened his mouth to talk, but shut it hastily.

"Hey! We must have a good reason!" Remus said.

"No reason could be good enough. Well, you know, except being … er – go on, Frank!"

**Hagrid would never betray Dumbledore. Hagrid would never tell anyone how to get past Fluffy ... never ... but - Harry suddenly jumped to his feet.**

"Brilliant, he's figured something out," James grinned.

**"Where're you going?" said Ron sleepily.  
"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had gone white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now."**

"Why?" asked James.

"Who knows. He'll probably explain later."

"Yeah."

**"Why?" panted Hermione,**

James looked positively aghast.

**hurrying to keep up.**

"**Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket?**

"Oh no!" gasped Lily, grabbing James' shoulder again. James gulped.

**How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law?**

"Oh no no no!" Alice gasped.

**Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"**

"Oh bloody hell, no!" James cried.

"I knew it!" Remus yelled excitedly.

"What?"

"Didn't I say, like two chapters ago, "Who would carry a dragon's egg around?" or something like that?"

"Yeah …" James said slowly.

**"What are you on about?" said Ron,**

"He didn't get it?" James asked. Then he grinned and glanced at Sirius and said. "Merlin, he may as well be Sirius, he's so slow!"

"Hey!" Sirius yelled.

"AHA!" James cried happily. "No hair for the rest of this chapter!"

"AWW! NO FAIR! You were trying to get me to talk!"

"So? That was never against any rules!"

"Prongs!"

"No hair!"

"No fair!"

"No hair!"

"But – Oh, who am I kidding?" Sirius sighed. "I could never stay quiet long enough. It's been killing me, and we aren't even halfway through the chapter! I'll just have to go hairless for a bit."

**but Harry, sprinting across the grounds towards the forest, didn't answer.**

**Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.**

**"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"**

**"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut across him.**

"Where are his manners?" Severus joked.

"Well, I think he has bigger things to worry about than manners, Snape," James scoffed.

**"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"**

**"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn't take his cloak off."**

"WHAT?" they all yelled.

"Oh, it's got to be Sn – erm – the guy - erm – person who's trying to break in then!" Sirius exclaimed, correcting himself as he went.

**He saw the three of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.  
"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head -**

"That Hog's Head?" James scoffed.

"No wonder they had a weird bloke with a bloody dragon's egg in there!" Sirius laughed.

**that's the pub down in the villiage.**

"Why not the Three Broomsticks?" Frank asked. "It's loads better after all."

"But you wouldn't find a dragon in there, that's for sure."

**Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he?**

"A dragon dealer? I really doubt it. Do they even still exist?"

"Shh Padfoot! You've only been talking for two minutes and already we've all got headaches!" James scolded him.

"You're not much better!" Sirius sneered.

**I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."**

**Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas.  
"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"  
"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember.**

"So yes, then," Remus said.

"God. He must've been a bit drunk. No wonder he doesn't remember," James sighed.

**"Yeah ... he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here ... he asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after ... so I told him ... an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon ... an' then ... I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks ...**

"Whoever it was, they sure know how to work Hagrid," sighed James.

"Yeah."

"It's like his dream come true. Free drinks and a dragon. 'Course he'll tell everything about Fluffy!" Alice exclaimed.

**Let's see ... yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted ... but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home ...**

"Merlin, here it comes," Sirius said.

**so I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy ..."**

"There it is. That Stone is as good as stolen now," Sirius confirmed.

"But he hasn't said how to get past it yet," Severus said hopefully.

"That'll come soon enough."

"Always the optimist, eh Paddy?"

"Yup."

**"And did he - did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked,**

"Well who wouldn't be interested in a three-headed dog?" Tonks scoffed.

"Not if you're the one that has to face it!" James said.

**trying to keep his voice calm.**

**"Well - yeah - how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down,**

"Here it comes," Sirius said.

**us' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep -"**

"Oh no!"

"Damn it!"

"Now Voldemort knows how to get past it!"

"Bloody hell, Hagrid!"

"It's not his fault, Sirius. He was drunk."

"I get drunk I –"

"You've been drunk?" Lily frowned.

"I – that's not what I – I was just saying –"

"Just shut up and I'll let it drop."

"Fine."

**Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.**

"He'd better!"

"I said shut up!"

**"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out.**

"He shouldn't have told anyone!" Severus exclaimed.

**"Forget I said it!**

"Like that'll happen," said Alice sarcastically.

**Hey - where're yeh goin'?"**

"To the trapdoor!" Sirius said hopefully.

"No!" Lily said at once. "If they have any sense they're going to see Dumbledore!"

"Ah, but do they have any sense? That is the question. He is Jimmy's kid after all. And Ron doesn't seem that bright," Frank said.

"Hey!" James yelled. "Actually, I'd go to the trapdoor myself, so you're right."

"He has a point," Remus nodded. "But Hermione's there. She'll make them do it."

**Harry, Ron and Hermione didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the Entrance Hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.  
"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Harry.**

"Hah!" James yelled triumphantly. "See? My boy does have sense! Way to go, Harry!"

"Get's that from Lily," Severus muttered.

"I heard that!"

"I wasn't exactly whispering."

**"Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy and it was either Snape**

Severus shook his head.

**or Voldemort under that cloak - it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk.**

"Always is," Sirius grinned.

"You've gotten him drunk?"

"'Course we have! How else would we have gotten all the information that we have!"

"What information?"

"Never you mind, Dora," Sirius tutted.

"Stop calling me that!"

**I just hope Dumbledore believes us.**

"He will," said Sirius.

"Dumbledore's a good man. He believes a lot of stuff most people won't," James said.

"Unless it's completely rubbish and ridiculous, like half the excuses that come out of Sirius' mouth," Remus added.

**Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him.**

"Doubt it."

"They don't like to meddle with Humans, those centaurs," James said wisely.

**Where's Dumbledore's office?"**

"Bloody hell! They don't even know where it is!" Alice cried.

"Well, it's only first year," Severus said reasonably.

"We knew two weeks into first year!"

"Well, I take it as a good thing that they weren't dragged in there their first week like you two were!" Lily snapped.

"Hey! It wasn't the first week! It was the second!" Sirius said.

"Argh! If only we were there to tell him!" James sighed.

"Or if he just had the map!" Sirius added.

"Yeah! I swear, he'd better get it before he finishes with Hogwarts or I'll be pissed off at the two of you!" James said to his fellow Marauders.

"Why? We didn't do anything!" Sirius said.

"Exactly! Why couldn't you find him and give it to him? Where the bloody hell is it, anyway?"

"We've asked that question too many times already. Let's just wait it out. Maybe the book will tell us."

"Fat chance of that happening," snorted James.

"Well, there are probably others, like we talked about. Of his other years. Maybe in one of them we'll find out what happened to the map," Remus suggested.

"And us," Sirius added darkly.

**They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction.**

"Yeah, like that'll just pop up somewhere."

**They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him.**

"Come on! The Weasley twins must have been there at least once! They're supposed to be the next generation of … well … of us!" James exclaimed.

**"We'll just have to -" Harry began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.**

"It'd better not be Filch!"

**"What are you three doing inside?"  
It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.**

"Damn. Why her?" said Sirius.

"But she can take them to Dumbledore!"

"Oh. Right."

**"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely, Harry thought.**

**"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do.**

"It is."

"We've never wanted to see Dumbledore. And we get up to all sorts of things."

**"Why?"**

**Harry swallowed - now what?  
"It's sort of secret," he said,**

"Idiot! You never say that to McGonagall!" James swore. "She hated that!"

"And she must know about the Stone! Isn't she one of the teachers protecting it or something?"

"Yeah!"

"Idiots!"

"Just tell her before it's too late!"

**but he wished at once he hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.**

James hung his head. "Too late," he sighed.

**"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said coldly.**

Their jaws dropped.

"He's gone?" Severus asked.

"He can't be gone!"

"The Stone will definitely be stolen then!" Sirius yelled.

"Merlin, then Voldemort will be back!" Lily gasped.

"Oh no!" Alice shrieked.

"Will you people be quiet so I can read and we can find out what happens?" Frank asked angrily.

**"He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."**

"I bet that was a fake. Sn – Voldemort probably had that sent to lure Dumbledore away!" Sirius said at once.

"Yeah. That seems about right."

**"He's gone?" said Harry frantically. "Now?"**

**"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter,**

"That's the understatement of the year!" said Sirius.

"Sirius, it's not even that year yet. We're still here in 1976. This book is ages from now."

"Whatever. You know what I mean."

**he has many demands on his time -"**

**"But this is important."**

**"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"**

"It is, but of course she wouldn't know that."

**"Look," said Harry, throwing caution to the winds,**

"Always the best thing to do."

**"Professor - it's about the Philosopher's Stone -"  
Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that.**

"'Course not."

**The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms but she didn't pick them up.**

Sirius and James began laughing.

**"How do you know -?" she spluttered.**

"They know everything!"

"They're geniuses!"

"They're brilliant!"

"He's a Potter, that's how!"

**"Professor, I think - I know - that Sn - that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."**

**She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.  
"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally. "I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."**

"Not well enough to beat Voldemort. Especially if he's got a teacher who knows on his side. And now he knows how to get past Fluffy and everything!" Sirius cried.

"I told you it's not me!"

"It doesn't have to be you," Remus sighed. "It could be another teacher. But I have a feeling he has a teacher on his side. Otherwise he can't get through."

"I'll bet it's Quirrell then!" James cried.

**"But Professor -"  
"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly.**

"You don't!"

"Just hear them out!"

"Dumbledore would've!"

**She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."**

"How can they possibly enjoy the sunshine?" Sirius snorted.

**But they didn't. **

**"It's tonight," said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight.**

"Just ignore it, Snape," James smiled. "We know it's not you. And soon enough, they probably will too."

Severus smiled gratefully.

**He's found out everything he needs and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."**

"Just like we said!"

**"But what can we -"  
Hermione gasped. Harry and Ron wheeled round.**

"What happened?" asked Lily worriedly.

"What more could possibly happen now?" Tonks asked.

"Don't say that! Never say that!"

**Snape was standing there.**

"Just me. Thank god," Severus breathed.

**"Good afternoon," he said smoothly. They stared at him.**

**"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.**

"I resent that," Severus pouted.

**"We were -" Harry began, without any idea what he was going to say.**

"Sounds familiar, doesn't it Paddy?" James chided.

**"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can they?"**

"Git," said Sirius without thinking.

"Oi!"

"Sorry. Didn't mean that."

**Harry flushed. They turned to go back outside, but Snape called them back.**

"What? Leave them alone!" Severus yelled at … himself.

**"Be warned, Potter - any more night-time wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled.**

"That's not grounds for expulsion!" Sirius exclaimed angrily.

"If it was we'd've been expelled ages ago!"

**Good day to you."**

**He strode off in the direction of the staff room.  
Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to the others.  
"Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an **

**eye on Snape - wait outside the staff room and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that."**

**"Why me?"**

"Because she can pretend to have a question about an exam or something," Severus suggested.

**"It's obvious," said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know." He put on a high voice, "Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen b wrong ..."**

They all laughed.

**"Oh, shut up," aid Hermione, but she agreed to go and watch out for Snape.**

**"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corrridor," Harry told Ron. "Come on."**

**But that part of the plan didn't work.**

"Let me guess," sighed James. "Filch."

**No sooner had they reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up again,**

"Oh no."

**and this time, she lost her temper.**

"Double Oh No."

**"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" she stormed.**

"Well, she has a point. What could they do?"

**"Enough of this nonsense! If I hear that you've come anywhere near here again, I'll take another fifty points off Gryffindor!**

James made a choking noise. "From her own house?" James croaked.

**Yes, Weasley, from my own house!"**

"How could she?"

**Harry and Ron went back to the common room. Harry had just said, "At least Hermione's on Snape's tail," when the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Hermione came in.**

"Darn!" cursed James.

**"I'm sorry, Harry," she wailed. "Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I've only just got away. I don't know where Snape went."**

They all stole glances as Severus, who hung his head.

**"Well that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said.**

**The other two stared at him. He was pale and his eyes were glittering.  
"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."**

"That's mad!" Sirius said excitedly.

"That's my boy! Don't let Minny get you down!" James cried.

"No! He – the dog – FLUFFY!" Lily yelled.

"Oh. Damn. Wait. He just has to play some music, right? It'll go to sleep then!" James grinned.

"But still!" Lily cried.

**"You're mad!" said Ron.**

**"You can't!" said Hermione. "After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll be expelled!"**.

**"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. **

"So what?" Lily exclaimed in shock.

**"Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back!**

"Well, that –"

"Just let it go, Lily," James sighed. "He's going in there and we both know it."

**Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see?**

"He's right," Lily smiled. "My son has some sense!"

"You sure switched opinions quickly."

"Well, he was very convincing."

**D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the House Cup?**

"Hah."

**If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there.**

"Noooo! Never!"

**It's only dying a bit later than I would have done,**

"Harry James Potter you stop talking about your death right now!" Lily scolded.

"He – he can't hear you," James said quietly.

**because I'm never going over to the Dark Side!**

"Neither are we!" Sirius yelled enthusiastically.

**I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"**

"How could we forget?" James said solemnly.

"I swear if I could I'd kill him," Sirius snarled.

"I'd help," Remus said.

**He glared at them.**

**"You're right, Harry," said Hermione in a small voice.**

**"I'll use the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It's just lucky I got it back."**

"Lucky? Nah. Dumbledore gave it back to him. I just know it!" Severus exclaimed.

**"But will it cover all three of us?" said Ron.**

"All – all three of them?" James said emotionally.

"They really are good mates," Sirius beamed.

"The best. Just like us," grinned James.

**"All - all three of us?"**

**"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"**

"We wouldn't let Moony go it alone when he has his … erm … you know."

"Wait," Severus frowned, "how do you keep him company? Werewolves are really dangerous to humans!"

The Marauders exchanged glances. Remus gave the smallest of nods, and James launched into a long-winded explanation that no one could be bothered to listen to.

"What?" asked Severus when James was finally finished.

"We're animagus," Sirius explained.

"Oh. Why didn't you just say that?"

"I DID!" James exclaimed.

"So … but … how did you do it?"

"Ummm … magic," Sirius said simply.

"Well, obviously. But how did _you_ guys do it? I never knew you were – er –capable of such – er –"

"He doesn't think you're smart enough," Tonks grinned.

"Hey!"

"We take offense to that!" Sirius cried.

"I got an O on my Transfiguration OWL just so you know!" James announced.

**"Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us?**

"Well, that's a really good point."

"No way can mini-Prongs be smart enough!" Sirius exclaimed. "Not when all the teachers have guarded it!"

"You'd think I'd be offended," James said, "but I completely agree."

**I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful ..."**

"Of course!" Alice cried. "Something's about to happen – go straight to the books!"

"Well, they're bound to help!" Lily reasoned. "And they need all the help they can get!"

**"But if we get caught, you two will be expelled, too."**

**"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve per cent on his exam.**

"How is that even possible?" asked a dumbfounded Sirius.

"That's bloody well impossible!"

Lily was also shocked, but for a different reason. "I only got a hundred and five percent first year!" she exclaimed. "How did she beat me?"

The others stared at her.

"_Only_ a hundred and five? _**Only?"**_ James said incredulously.

**They're not throwing me out after that."**

"Course not!"

**After dinner the three of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered them; none of the Gryffindors had anything to say to Harry anymore, after all.**

"Ah, they'll get over that once they save that Stone!" James said happily.

Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She still wasn't sure if she wanted Harry going through that trapdoor.

**This was the first night he hadn't been upset by it. Hermione was skimming through all her notes, hoping to come across one of the enchantments they were about to try and break.**

"Fat chance of that. I doubt any hardcore enchantments will be in a Firstie's notes!"

**Harry and Ron didn' talk much. Both of them were thinking about what they were about to do.**

**Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.**

**"Better get the cloak," Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs to their dormitory. He pulled out the Cloak and then his eyes fell on the flute Hagrid had given him for Christmas. He pocketed it to use on Fluffy - **

"Good idea."

**he didn't feel much like singing.**

"If he's any bit like me he can't sing to save his life," James snorted.

"Yeah. He can't hit a right even if … er … even if what, Moony?" Sirius asked.

Remus just shook his head and sighed.

**He ran back down to the common room.  
"We'd better put the Cloak on here, and make sure it covers all three of us - if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own -"**

"That's the worst!" James shuddered. "Poor Wormtail never even knew that his foot was showing. He never made that mistake again!"

"What did Filch do to him?" asked Alice.

"Let's just say he is a bit too familiar with Mrs. Norris' pooping habits!" James smirked.

"Ew! That's disgusting!"

"I know!"

"Urgh! Back to the book!"

**"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room.**

"Damn!" cursed Frank. "Now who the hell is that?"

**Neville appeared from behind an armchair,**

Frank froze. "What is he doing?" he cried angrily.

Alice stroked his arm to calm him down.

**clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he'd been making another bid for freedom.**

**"Nothing, Neville, nothing," said Harry, hurriedly putting the Cloak behind his back.**

"Oh come on! That's such a pathetic attempt! Put some heart into it!" Sirius yelled at the book.

"Ok, Sirius," Lily sighed, rubbing her head. "If you are quiet for the rest of this chapter, you can get your hair back."

Sirius thought about it for a while. "Okay …" he said slowly.

**Neville stared at their guilty faces. "You're going out again," he said.**

"Well, that's pretty obvious," Severus muttered.

**"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go back to bed, Neville?"**

"Not very convincing," muttered Remus.

"If only I'd had the chance to teach Harry the important things in life … like how to make up a good, convincing lie!" James said sadly.

"That's what's important in life?" Lily asked him incredulously.

"Well … yeah. Except for you!" he added quickly. "You're the most important thing!"

Lily blushed slightly. James kissed her on the lips.

"Awww," cooed Alice, only to be kissed by Frank. Remus grinned, looked down at Tonks, and gave her the quickest possible peck on the cheek. She blushed like crazy.

Sirius rolled his eyes so much they may have gotten stuck that way.

"And who am I supposed to kiss? Severus?" he scoffed, then quickly hit himself on the head when he realized what he'd said.

James turned to stare at him, his eyes wide. Severus looked at him disbelievingly. The others tried their best to control their laughter.

"Are you saying –" began James, but Sirius cut him off.

"Don't, Prongs."

"I have to. You know I do."

"No. You don't."

"You were practically asking for it."

"No. I am asking you _not_ to, Prongs."

"O for Merlin's sake! If you're not going to do it, Potter, then I will. Black, I'm sorry, but I don't swing that way. Sorry to disappoint, but I am only into girls!" Severus teased.

Everyone laughed, Sirius fumed, and, surprisingly, so did James.

"Snape!" he yelled.

"What?" asked Severus, shocked.

"You stole my joke! I wanted to do it!" James complained.

"Well, it didn't look like you were ever going to do it, so I took the liberty to –"

"But I was going to! You know I was!"

"Well, make it more clear next time."

"It was!"

"Look, Potter, it's me he wanted to kiss, so I think it's only fair that I –"

"I DO NOT WANT TO KISS YOU!" Sirius thundered.

"Sure sounded like it!" Severus grinned.

"Snape!"

"Alright, break it up," Lily yelled over the yelling.

"But he –"

"But I'm not-"

"But it's not fa –"

"SHUT UP!" Lily roared over all of their complaining. "James, it was right for Severus to say the joke. It was about him, after all."

"But –"

"No! Severus, you know James wanted to do it!"

"But –"

"No!"

"Sirius, you talked, so you don't get your hair back."

"WHAT!"

"That was the deal. You've had away too many chances. You're just gonna have to live without hair until it grows back."

"But that'll be ages from now! Please! I need my hair! I'll be quiet for the rest of the chapter!"

"Well, we already know you can't stick to that deal, so we have to think up something else," James said thoughtfully.

"Anything! Anything!" pleaded Sirius.

James smirked evilly and whispered something into Lily's ear, and they shared an evil glance.

"Anything?" James asked seriously.

"Any – anything!" Sirius begged, though less certainly this time.

"Fine," James said. Sirius waited for his ordeal to be told, but it never came.

"Well?" he finally said. "What is it?"

"Later. At the end of the chapter."

"What? Why not now?"

"Because I think it's best if you can at least enjoy the rest of this chapter, Paddy," James smirked.

"What are you –"

"At the end of the chapter!"

"But –"

"Trust me, Paddy, you want to be able to enjoy the rest of this chapter … at least."

"How am I supposed to enjoy this now?" he moaned.

"Trust me, it'll be a lot worse after."

"What is it?" Tonks asked impatiently, tired of waiting.

"You'll find out at the end of the chapter!" Lily said, rolling her eyes. "So just let Frank read!"

**Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn't afford to waste any more time, Snape might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep.**

**"You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."**

"It's good he's standing up for Gryffindor and all, but if they don't save that Stone Gryffindor may not even exist anymore!" James exclaimed.

**"You don't understand," said Harry, "this is important."  
But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do something desperate.**

"Oh Merlin, what' he gonna do?" Alice said worriedly.

**"I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll - I'll fight you!"**

"No! Let them go, Neville!" Alice cried anxiously. "He'll get hurt! There's three of them and one of him! Stop it!"

**"Neville," Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot -"**

"Don't call him an idiot!" Frank yelled at the book.

**"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville.**

"Atta boy, Neville!" Frank grinned.

**"I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"**

"Somehow I don't think he meant them," snorted Sirius halfheartedly. He was still too worried about what _he_ was going to have to do to be completely interested.

"Aw, come on, Paddy. You're supposed to enjoy this chapter!"

"How can I when you're pretty much telling me I'm gonna have to do some horrible thing right after?"

"Just try real hard."

"Easy for you to say! You're probably really enjoying this, aren't you?"

"Well of course I am!"

"Git!"

"Hey! Don't make me make the punishment even worse!"

Sirius gulped.

**"Yes, but not to us," said Ron in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."  
He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the toad, who leapt out of sight.**

**"Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"**

"Neville, Neville, Neville!" Alice sighed.

**Harry turned to Hermione.**

"What'll Hermione do?"

**"Do something," he said desperately.  
Hermione stepped forward.  
"Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."**

"What is she going to do to my son?" Alice thundered suddenly.

**She raised her wand.**

"She had better not curse him! Girl! Stop right there!"

**"Petrificus Totalus!" she cried, pointing it at Neville.**

Alice made a choking noise. Frank gripped the book so hard that the pages were almost ripping.

"Easy, easy now," Remus said, trying to sooth them. "He's not hurt, just stunned. Just petrified. He'll be alright."

Slowly, after a long time and many more soothing words from Remus, they calmed down enough for Frank to continue reading.

**Neville's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together.**

"Do they have to explain it?"

**His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face,**

Alice gasped. Frank read more and more slowly.

**stiff as a board.**

**Hermione ran to turn him over. Neville's jaws were jammed together so he couldn't speak. Only his eyes were moving, looking at them in horror.**

"That's got to be the worst part," Alice shuddered.

"You know, I'm surprised she even knows that spell. It can't be first year magic," James said thoughtfully.

"It isn't," Lily said. "But, come on, it's Hermione. She knows loads of spells that First years can only dream about doing!"

"Yeah. Really talented," James nodded, before adding hastily, "though not nearly as talented as you, Lily flower!"

Lily looked at him scathingly.

**"What've you done to him? Harry whispered.  
"It's the full Body-Bind," said Hermione miserably. "Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."  
"We had to, Neville, no time to explain," said Harry.  
"You'll understand later, Neville," said Ron as they stepped over him and pulled on the Invisibility Cloak.**

"Well, that's nice of them. Just leave him there like that!"

"Well, if they let him go he'll try to stop them, and they can't exactly afford to waste any more time as it is."

**But leaving Neville lying motionless on the floor didn't feel like a very good omen. In their nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them.**

"Yup, that's what it's like the first time you do something big," Sirius nodded.

**At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.  
"Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Ron whispered in Harry's ear,**

"Oh, that's the best feeling in the world! It never gets old! Do it!" exclaimed James.

"Do it!" repeated Sirius.

**but Harry shook his head.**

"Awwww."

**As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs Norris turned her lamp-like eyes on them, but didn't do anything.**

**They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor.**

"Uh oh."

**Peeves was bobbing halfway up, **

"Double uh oh," James sighed. "He can tell if there are invisible people around."

"Really?"

"Yup."

**loosening the carpet so that people would trip.**

"Ah, another trick we taught him!"

**"Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed towards him. he narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you a ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"**

"Damn."

"I told you!"

"How do they get out of this?"

**He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.  
"Should call Filch, I should,**

"NO!" they all yelled in unison.

**if something's a-creeping around unseen."**

"Like he never does that!"

**Harry had a sudden idea.**

"It's not gonna work on Peeves," sighed Sirius.

**"Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."**

"Oh My God my son's a genius!" James exclaimed happily, bouncing up and down in joy.

**Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock.**

"Can that even happen?" asked Sirius.

"Maybe."

**He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs.**

**"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake - I didn't see you -**

"That would be because they are invisible," Sirius snorted.

**of course I didn't, you're invisible - forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."**

"Lucky that Percy told them the Baron's the only one that can control Peeves, eh?" James said.

"Yeah."

**"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry. "Stay away from this place tonight."**

**"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you." And he scooted off.**

**"Brilliant, Harry!" whispered Ron.**

**A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor - and the door was already ajar.**

James gulped.

"Looks like whoever is trying to steal it is already in there."

"And at this point it really could be anyone, not just Snape," Sirius said.

**"Well, there you are," said Harry quietly. "Snape's already got past Fluffy."**

Severus made a noise halfway between a snort and a laugh.

**Seeing the open door seemed to impress upon all three of them what was facing them.**

"A door?" Sirius asked.

"No you idiot!"

**Underneath the Cloak, Harry turned to the other two.**

**"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the Cloak, I won't need it now."**

**"Don't be stupid," said Ron.**

**"We're coming," said Hermione.**

"'Course they say that. They're good mates. Not like this one," Sirius said, staring moodily at James.

"What? I'm not a good friend?"

"No! You shaved off my hair! My beautiful, precious -"

"Oh, get over it. The more you mope around the more he'll enjoy it," Frank said.

**Harry pushed the door open.  
As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.**

**"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.**

**"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."**

**"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry. "Well, here goes ..."**

**He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. **

"That's really effective," James said in surprise.

"You know, I was just beginning to think we could go almost a whole page in silence, when you go and start talking!" Lily sighed.

"Well, he can't help it," Remus nodded. "He was born that way."

**Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased - it tottered on its paws and fellon its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.**

**"Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they slipped out of the Cloak and crept towards the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.**

"Urgh," said Alice.

"That's gotta be worse than the troll bogies!" James said in disgust.

"Ewww. I forgot about that!" Lily shuddered.

**"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Hermione?"**

"Ah, a true gentleman," Tonks said sarcastically.

"Well, he's letting the lady go first," Severus said reasonably.

"But it's first into a scary unknown darkness!" Allice cried.

"True."

"Still."

"If he was a man he'd go first!"

"He isn't! He's a kid! He's only a firstie!"

Tonks frowned at James.

**"No, I don't!"**

"Don't blame her," Lily shuddered.

"So it's alright if one of you girls interrupts, but it's not if it's me or Padfoot?" James said.

"What d'you mean,_ you girls?" _Lily said angrily. James gulped.

"I – I was just – I just meant – it's just – er – but that's – not what –I just – k – keep reading, Frank!"

"No. Answer the question!"

"Bu –but just – if one of you interrupted –" began James, but Lily burst out laughing.

"You were right, Alice, that was fun!" she laughed.

James relaxed a bit, but then frowned. "That m – that wasn't very nice!"

"But it was funny!"

Sirius, who was also laughing, said, "See? It isn't nice to be on the receiving end of all the jokes is it?"

James mumbled something but no one heard it.

**"All right." Ron gritted his teeth and stepped carefully over the dog's legs.**

"So at least he's not that much of a wimp."

**He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.**

**"What can you see?" Hermione said anxiously.**

**"Nothing - just black - there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."**

Lily gasped. She closed her eyes and put her head on James' shoulder.

**Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at himself.**

Everybody's mouth fell open.

"Nooo!" cried Lily, snapping her head up.

"Don't worry. He'll be alright."

"How can you know that?"

"Because he's a Potter. Potters are made of sterner stuff than that," Sirius said. James smiled gratefully at him.

**"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."**

**Harry handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled at twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.**

**Harry climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom.**

Lily was panicking like mad.

"Harry! Don't so it! Let him get the Stone! So what?"

"Lily!" James scolded her. "How can you say that?"

**He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow.**

Lily looked as though she might have a heart attack.

"James! James stop him from doing it! Don't let him go in there!" she cried hysterically.

"Lily! I can't do anything about this!"

"He can't do anything period," Sirius snorted.

**Go straight to the owelry and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"  
"Right," said Ron.  
"See you in a minute, I hope ..."**

Everyone was on the edge of their seat (or beanbag. You know what I mean), hanging on every word.

**And Harry let go.**

Everyone waited nervously for Frank to continue. He smiled and paused for effect.

"Get on with it you prat!" Sirius yelled.

"Calling me a prat won't make me go any fast, Sirius!"

"Just read already!" Lily cried angrily, pushed to the edge by being worried and annoyed.

Frank shuddered and carried on.

**Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and -  
FLUMP.**

"Flump?" Lily said oddly, frowning.

"Does that mean he landed on something soft, then?" Alice asked hopefully.

"Hopefully."

**With a funny sort of thump he landed on something soft.**

"Oh thank Merlin," James breathed, lying back on his seat and relaxing.

Lily let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Honestly, I thought my arm was about to be ripped off!" James snickered.

Lily glared at him and he stopped laughing.

**He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.**

Lily and Alice's eyes widened. So did Remus'.

"What is it?" James asked worriedly.

When no one answered, James shrugged and Frank continued to read.

**"It's OK!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp which was the open trapdoor. "It's a soft landing, you can jump!"  
Ron followed straight away. He landed sprawled next to Harry.  
"What's this stuff?" were his first words.  
"Dunno, sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall.**

"They wouldn't be so nice to someone who's obviously trying to steal the Stone!" Remus said worriedly.

"I suppose not," James sighed.

"Unless … no. Never mind," sighed Tonks.

**Come on, Hermione!"**

**The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side.**

**"We must be miles under the school," she said.**

**"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.**

"Don't think so."

**"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"**

They all began to panic.

"Oh no!"

"What's happened?"

"Oh Merlin!"

**She leapt up and struggled towards a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snake-like tendrils around her ankles**

Lily shrieked.

"It's Devil's Snare!" she cried, jumping up. "I knew it! Oh, they're going to … it's …" she began to feel dizzy. Everything was fading …

"LILY!" cried James. He caught her and put her gently on the sofa.

"She certainly handled that well," Sirius said quietly.

"Shut up, Padfoot!" Remus scolded him.

"Lily? Get up."

James summoned some water and poured it on her face.

She spluttered a bit and came to. Lily was a bit embarrassed, but nonetheless, she was still worried.

"What happened? Did you read without me? Is Harry OK?"

"Relax. We haven't read anything yet Calm down. Here," James said, and he used his wand to dry her off.

"Er – should I continue?" Frank asked.

"Yeah. Go 'head."

**As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.**

"HOW COULD THEY NOT NOTICE?" James yelled, surprising Lily. Apparently that calm bit was just an act.

**Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her.**

"Bloody hell. Those – Why didn't they - ARGH!" James yelled exasperatedly.

**now she watched in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound round them.**

"It's Devil's Snare! Stop moving!" cried Lily anxiously.

"It only gets worse if you move!" Alice said.

**"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is - it's Devil's Snare!"**

"SO LIGHT A BLOODY FIRE, DAMN IT!" James roared.

**"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant curling around his neck.**

"Does he think that attitude is helping?" Lily snapped.

**"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione.**

"Light a fire! Light a fire!" James cried, jumping up and down in his seat. "Come on! She's supposed to know everything! Hurry up!"

**"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" gasped Harry**

Lily looked like she was going to faint again. James looked like he wanted to break something. Everybody else was stressing and gulping and staring at the book.

**wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.**

Lily was now shaking in her seat, and James tried his best to comfort her, despite being in major need of comforting himself.

**"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare ... What did Professor Sprout say? It likes the dark and the damp -"**

**"So light a fire!" Harry choked.**

"Light the fire! Light a bloody fire!" Lily cried, jumping up off her seat.

**"Yes - of course - but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.**

'WOOD?" James yelled, standing up as well. "WOOD? SHE'S A BLOODY WITCH!" He began pacing around the center of the room in frustration, pulling at his hair, clenching his fists, muttering.

**"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"**

**"Oh, right!" said Hermione, **

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!"

**and she whipped out her wand, waved it, muttered something and sent a jet of the same bluebell flames she had used on Snape at the plant.**

James breathed a sigh of relief and slumped on the floor at the spot where he was standing. Lily did the same, beside where Alice and Frank were sitting.

**In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies and they were able to pull free.**

"Thank Merlin for Hermione!" Tonks said.

**"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.**

**"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis - 'there's no wood', honestly."**

They all laughed at that.

"For such a know it all she sure picks a horrible time to forget she's a bloody witch!"

**"This way," said Harry, pointing down a stone passageway which was the only way on.**

**All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downwards and Harry was reminded of Gringotts.**

"I'm guessing this is a lot worse than Gringotts," James snorted. "Although …"

Frank gulped. "They're supposed to have … dragons … aren't they?"

"Oh God! Don't make me think about that!"

**With an unpleasant jolt of the heart, he remembered the dragons said to be guarding vaults in the wizards' bank.**

"No!" James yelled.

**If they met a dragon, a fully grown dragon -**

"No! No! NO!" Lily cried.

**Norbert had been enough ...**

"Okay, Harry needs to calm down," said James. "And so do I. We both do, Lily."

They both took deep, steadying breaths and sat down on their abandoned sofa.

**"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered.**

**Harry listened. A soft rushing and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.**

**"Do you think it's a ghost?"**

**"I don't know ... sounds like wings to me."**

"How can he even tell the difference?"

**"There's a light ahead - I can see something moving."**

**They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room.**

"B –birds?"

**On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy, wooden door.**

**"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron.**

"Probably," sighed Severus.

**"Probably," said Harry.**

**"They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once ... Well, there's nothing for it ... I'll run."**

**He took a deep breath, covered his face with his arms and sprinted across the room. He expected to feel sharp beaks and claws tearing at him any second,**

"Oh no."

"Don't worry, it said he only expected it. It didn't happen."

**but nothing happened**

"So then that door must be locked or something."

**He reached the door untouched. He pulled the handle, but it was locked.**

**The other two followed him. They tugged and heaved at the door,**

"It won't budge."

**but it wouldn't budge,**

"Figures."

**not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora Charm.**

"Now what?" asked Sirius, confused.

**"Now what?" said Ron.**

James managed a small grin. Sirius laughed to cheer everyone up.

**"These birds ... they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.**

"True."

**They watched the birds soaring overhead, glittering -**

"Glittering? Do birds glitter?" Alice frowned.

"No, Prewett, they don't," Sirius snorted.

**glittering?**

**"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly, "they're keys!**

"Ah."

"There it is. That's it. One of them is for the door," Sirius grinned.

"But … which one?" Severus asked slowly.

"Oh bugger," James groaned. "There were loads of them."

"Damn it."

**Winged keys - look carefully. So that must mean ..."**

"They have to get the right one," Remus nodded.

"Can't they just summon it?" Sirius asked.

"I don't think they'll make it that easy," Remus sighed.

"Then how? It's not like they can … Fly!" James said excitedly. "There's gotta be a broom around there!"

**He looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes - look! Broomsticks!**

"Yes! I knew it!"

**We've got to catch the key to the door!"**

**"But there are hundreds of them!"**

**Ron examined the lock on the door.**  
**"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one - probably silver, like the handle."**

"Good thinking. That ought to narrow it down a bit," Lily nodded.

"And the right one should be a bit squashed or damaged if someone else's just grabbed it, right?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah. That's probably right."

**They seized a broomstick each and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.**

"But Harry's a seeker! He's got to be able to get it! Come on!" James urged. The thought of Harry not being a good enough Quidditch player to catch even one key, no matter if it's the right one or not, was devastating.

**Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century.**

"Yeah!" James cried.

"Alright!" Sirius cheered. "You can do it Harry!"

**He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't.**

"Atta boy!"

**After a minute's weaving about through the whirl of rainbow feathers, he noticed a large silver key that had a bent wing, as if it had already been caught and stuffed roughly into the keyhole.**

"Yes! Go and get it, Harry!"

**"That one!" he called to the others. "That big one - there - no, there - with bright blue wings - the feathers are all crumpled on one side."**

**Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling and nearly fell off his broom.**

"Not much of a Quidditch player then, eh?" James grinned.

"Well, at least not a seeker," Remus nodded.

"Maybe chaser or something?" Sirius suggested.

"IT DOESN'T MATTER! GET ON WITH THE BOOK!" Lily snapped angrily.

**"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off they key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come up at it from above - Hermione, stay below and stop it going down - and I'll try and catch it.**

"Good plan. It's always best to have a plan," Alice said.

"I beg to differ," Sirius grinned. "Going without a plan is always more fun."

**Right, NOW!"**

**Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upwards, the key dodged them both and Harry streaked after it; it sped towards the wall, Harry leant forward and with a nasty crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand.**

They all cheered.

"Way to go, Harry!" James yelled.

"Woohooo!"

"Yes!"

**Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber.  
They landed quickly and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned - it worked.**

There were more cheers.

**The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.**

**"Ready?" Harry asked the other two, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. he pulled the door open.**

They all waited anxiously to find out what was behind the door, but Frank was taking his sweet time.

"FRANK!" yelled Alice, hitting his arm.

"What?" he grinned.

"Get on with it already!"

**The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all.**

"That can't be good."

**But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.**

**They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone.**

"Whoa," James breathed. "Cool."

"Awesome."

"So what? They have to play chess?" Tonks asked.

"Let's hope it's that simple," Remus said.

"Oh, don't say that, Remus!" Lily cried.

**Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly - the towering white chessmen had no faces.**

They all shuddered.

**"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.**

"Oh, come on! It's obvious, Harry!"

**"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."**

**Behind the white pieces they could see another door.  
"How?" said Hermione nervously.**

**"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."**

"COOL!" James and Sirius said together.

**He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knight's horse. At once, the stone sprang to life.**

"That's got to be Transfiguration! It must be McGonagall's protection!" James exclaimed.

"Yeah. That makes sense."

**The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.  
"Do we - er - have to join you to get across?"**

"He's just going to ask it?"

"It."

**The black knight nodded.**

**Ron turned to the other two.  
"This wants thinking about ..." he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of three black pieces ..."**

Lily looked worried.

"But … but … it's not like real wizard's chess, is it?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"Let's hope not."

**Harry and Hermione stayed quiet, watching Ron think.**

**Finally he said, "Now, don't be offended or anything, but neither of you are that good at chess -"**

James snorted.

**"We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."**

**"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle."**

"But the castle isn't beside the bishop!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yeah! There's a ho – knight in the middle!" James said.

"Were you about to say horse?" Severus laughed.

"Was not!"

"Yes you were!" Sirius said.

"Shut up!"

**"We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."**

**"Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle."**

"Cool."

**"What about you?"**

**"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron.**

"Good choice," said Remus.

**The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, a bishop and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board leaving three empty squares which Harry, Ron and Hermione took.**

"Nice."

**"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes ... look ..."  
A white pawn had moved forward two squares.**

"And so the game begins."

**Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Harry's knees were trembling. What if they lost?**

"He can't think about that!"

"Focus on the game!"

**"Harry - move diagonally four squares to the right."**

**Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. **

"Uh oh."

"I guess we're about to find out if it is like wizard's chess or not."

**The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, face down.**

Lily clutched James' arm so tightly he thought that it might fall off. He held her close and they sat on the edge of their seats.

"How horrible!" Alice cried.

"They had better win!"

"No duh!"

"Shut up! I'm not in the mood for your stupid sarcasm, Sirius," Lily snapped.

**"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."  
Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy.**

"Really brings out the demented side of Mcgonagall, doesn't it?" Sirius shuddered.

**Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall.**

"What? Haven't they taken any white pieces?" Jamees demanded.

"Well, Hermione took that bishop. That's all we know for sure."

**Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Harry and Hermione were in danger.**

Lily's eyes widened to an impossible size.

"That git! If anything happens to Harry –" James began, but he didn't know how to finish that sentence.

**He himself darted around the board taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.**

"Brilliant!" James cheered.

"I don't use my knights that much, really," Remus commented. "I guess they're more useful than I thought."

**"We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly.**

"YES!"

**"Let me think - let me think ..."**

**The white queen turned her blank face towards him.  
"Yes ..." said Ron softly, "it's the only way ... **

"What is …?" Alice frowned.

**I've got to be taken."**

Everyone's jaws dropped.

"What?" Severus said in shock.

"No way!" Sirius cried.

"That can't happen!" James yelled.

"He might die!" Lily shrieked.

"He can't do that!" Tonks gasped.

**"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.**

"Exactly! NO!"

**"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices!**

"That's too big a sacrifice!"

**I take one step forward and she'll take me - that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"**

James opened his mouth, frowned, and said, "But knights only move in L-shapes!"

"James! It doesn't matter! You know what he meant!"

"Still."

**"But -"  
"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"**

Severus was to worried to care about that right now.

**"Ron -"  
"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!"  
There was nothing else for it.**

"NO!"

"They can't let him do this!" Lily cried.

"But they need to do it to stop whoever from getting the Stone!" James reasoned with her.

"But still," Lily said, on the verge of tears. James patted her on the back and motioned for Frank to continue.

**"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go - now, don't hang around once you've won."**

"He's so brave," Lily sobbed, wiping away a tear.

"A true Gryffindor!" James nodded.

"Three cheers for Ron!" Sirius cried. "Hip hip"

"Hooray!"

"Hip hip!"

"Hooray!"

"Hip hip!"

"Hooray!"

**He stepped forward and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard around the head with her stone.**

They all flinched.

"Ouch," Tonks shuddered.

"More than just ouch, actually. He'll have to go to the Hospital Wing for sure!" Remus said gravely.

"But Madam Pomfrey will have him fixed in a jiffy!" James said, trying to convince himself as much as everyone else.

"Unless …" began Sirius, but he didn't have the heart to continue.

**Hermione screamed but stayed on her square - the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out.**

"That's because he has."

"Hopefully, that's all that happened," Sirius said solemnly.

"Don't go there!" Lily sobbed.

**Shaking, Harry moved three spaces to the left.**

"Doesn't he mean diagonally?"

"Does it matter, James?" Lily fumed. "Ron's just been smashed and all you care about is how the chess pieces move!"

"Sorry," he muttered.

**The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won.**

"You know, I'm not as happy as I thought I would be when they won," James said.

"Me neither," Frank agreed.

"Yeah."

**The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look at Ron, Harry and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway.  
"What if he's -?"**

**"He'll be alright," said Harry, trying to convince himself. "What do you reckon's next?"**

**"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devil's Snare - Flitwick must've put charms on the keys - **

"Oh yeah! I thought that might have been the Quidditch teacher, but that was stupid," Sirius said.

"Yes, it was. Just like everything else you say."

"Oi!"

"Argh! This is not the time for arguments!" Lily yelled at them.

**McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive - that leave's Quirrell's spell, and Snape's ..."**

They gulped.

"I'llo bet Snape's will be the hardest yet!" James sighed.

"Well, it probably will be," Severus nodded in agreement. "I don't slack off when something that important is on the line."

"Yeah. Not too sure about Quirrell's though. Don't exactly know how talented he is. Or if he's even talented at all," James added with a snort.

"Oh, and there's also whatever Dumbledore's done," Remus reminded them.

"Oh yeah," Frank said.

"That'll be the last one, I'll bet," Lily said.

"Yeah."

**They had reached another door.  
"All right?" Harry whispered.**

**"Go on."  
Harry pushed it open.  
A disgusting smell filled thir nostrils, making both of them pull their robes up over their noses.**

"Merlin, not another troll, is it?" James said worriedly.

**Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled,**

James gaped at the book.

**out cold with a bloody lump on its head.**

"Oh, thank Merlin they don't have to deal with that!" Lily breathed.

"So that's must be Quirrell's protection. Wait … if his one is a troll … you don't suppose he let the troll in on Halloween?" James said slowly.

"Yes! That's what I've been saying all along!" Severus said exasperatedly.

"You have not! You weren't even here for the troll bit!"

"No! I was saying it was Quirrell, not me!"

"Oh, yeah. You have. He has."

**"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered, as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."**

**He pulled open the next door, both of them hardly daring to look at what came next - but there was nothing very frightening in here,**

"Thank Heavens for that!" Lily sighed. "I've had enough excitement from this book already. I need something soothing now."

James laughed and smiled at her, holding her close.

**just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.**

"Must be Potions," Severus said, appraising his own work.

**"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"**

**They stepped over the threshold and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple.**

Severus gasped.

"What?" asked James curiously, but he didn't answer.

**At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onwards. They were trapped.**

**"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry looked over her shoulder to read it:**

_**Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,**_

__

_**One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two of our number hold only nettled wine,  
Three of us are killers,**_

Lily gasped.

_**waiting hidden in line.  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here for evermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four:  
First, however slyly the poison tried to hide  
You will always find some on nettles wine's left side;**_

"So poison will be beside the wine, right?" James asked, thoroughly confused.

"Yes! Now shhh and let him read!" Lily said.

_**Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onwards, neither is your friend;**_

"So, they are pretty much useless, right?"

"Shut up!" Lily said, listening intently.

_**Third, as you see clearly, are all different size,  
Neither dwarf or giant holds death in their insides;**_

"So –" began James.

"James! Honestly! Shut up!"

_**Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight.**_

"Well, that was a load of crap!" Sirius said when it was over. "I didn't understand a thing. Did you?"

"Nope," James answered honestly.

Lily and Remus were the only two thinking deeply about it.

"I could figure it out if I were looking at them," Lily sid.

"Yeah, we need to know the sizes," Remus nodded.

"You actually understood that load of crap?"

"Yes.

"Wow," Severus said, evidently impressed by his own skills.

"Don't sound so shocked, Black. You know you're good at that kind of stuff," James grinned.

Severus was shocked at the odd compliment.

"No need to be so shocked about that either!" James added sarcastically.

**Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing.**

"I knew she'd be able to figure it out."

"**Brilliant," said Hermione. "This isn't magic - it's logic - a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."**

**"But so will we, won't we?"**

**"Of course not," said Hermione. **

"If Hermione wasn't there …" James said, grinning.

"Yup. I'm afraid Harry's got too much of James' genes to be able to figure it out," Lily sighed.

"What?" James cried, then he nodded. "Yeah. I couldn't do it even if there were just three bottles."

"And one of them said, I am not poison. I will move you forwards. Pick me."

"Alright, enough, Paddy."

"Or even if he had a cheat sheet telling him which is which …"

"Seriously, Paddy," James said, growing angry again.

"Sirius-ly?" Sirius laughed.

"PADDY!"

"PRONGS!"

"Don't make me Silence you!"

"_Expelliarmus_! I'd like to see you try no –" But his last words were cut off as Lily sent a silent spell towards him, shutting him up.

"I don't want to have to use _Rectusempra_ too, Sirius."

Sirius pouted a bit, but sat still.

**"Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire and one will get us back through the purple."**

**"But how do we know which to drink?"**

**"Give me a minute."  
Hermione read the paper several times. then she walked up and down the line of bottled muttering to herself and pointing at them. At last, she clapped her hands.**

"Great, she worked it out!' exclaimed Remus.

**"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire - towards the Stone."**

"Brilliant."

**Harry looked at the tiny bottle.**

**"There's only enough there for one of us," he said. "That's hardly one swallow."**

"Oh."

"That could be a problem," James said.

"But the other one could just go back, right?" Tonks asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, I made this thing to make sure anyone can get out both ways, I guess," Severus said.

"Yup."

"You know, it's kinda weird," James said.

"What?"

"How all of these tasks or challenges or protective things or whatever – all of them have been beatable. I mean, there was a way to get past all of them, right? And a way to go back. Why is that?" James asked. "You would think they would want to kill of an intruder or trap them there forever, right?"

"Well … erm …" Remus wasn't sure how to answer.

"I guess if they wanted to get the Stone themselves, they would need a way to get it without being killed, but it would also have to be strong enough to stop others from getting in, right?" Lily said.

"I – I guess," James nodded slowly.

**They looked at each other.  
"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?"**

**Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.  
"You drink that," said Harry.**

"No! He can't go alone! He can barely do any magic! He needs her to go with him!" Lily shrieked.

James froze in his seat.

**"No listen - get back and get Ron - grab brooms from the flying-key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy - go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while,**

"He means Quirrell," Severus said.

"But still. How does he think he can manage against an adult? He's only a firstie! He barely knows any magic!" Lily said hysterically. James was still finding it hard to move. His eyes were wide and he looked extremely abnormal.

"J – James?" Lily asked, snapping out of her own hysteria.

"Jimmy?" Tonks said.

"Helloooo? Prongsie?" Sirius said, throwing a snowball at him.

James snapped out of it and had a dazed expression on his face.

"He – he – he – Quirr – son - Harry – magic – firstie – gonna – Quirrell – danger – not – shouldn't – Harry – Not – Don't – Hermione – Safe – Go back – help – can't do it – He's gonna die!" James finally managed to yell.

"James!" Lily said in shock and anger. "He most certainly will not die! He – he can't!"

"He's – but – Quirrell – stone – Vold – "

"No! He's gonna be fine, mate," Sirius said reassuringly.

"But he's only a firstie!" James yelled worriedly. He seemed so out of character. It was not normal.

They decided he was beyond help, and Frank kept on reading.

**but I'm no match for him really."**

**"But, Harry - what if You-Know-Who's with him?"**

This seemed to be far too much for both Lily and James to handle.

"NO!" yelled James. "He can't go!"

"Stop him! Someone stop him!"

"No! NO! NO! NO!"

"He can't fight _Voldemort!_ No one can!"

"Calm do –"

"Don't – you – dare – ask – me – to – calm – down – Sirius – Black!" Lily yelled dangerously.

Sirius gulped and quailed with fear.

"He's going to be fine. He has to be fine. He has got to be fine," James kept saying to himself.

"Have they gone mad?" Tonks whispered worriedly to Remus as James began to hyperventilate.

"Don't worry. Prongs tends to go a bit over the top when he's really, really stressed out. He'll get back to normal in a bit."

"And – and Lily?"

"Well. She's Lily. I don't really know. We'll see."

"Lily!" Severus said surprisingly firmly. "Snap out of it! He'll be fine! It's alright! He's defeated Voldemort once already, hasn't he? Just calm down, and we can find out what happens, alright?"

"Al – alright."

"OI! IDIOT! PRONGS! JIMMY!" Sirius yelled, trying to get James to come to as well. Sirius thought about it for a while, looked at Remus, who sighed and nodded, and proceeded to roll up his sleeves.

"I guess you guys get to see firsthand what to do when Jimmy gets like this. Brace yourselves. OI! JAMES! LUDO BAGMAN WAS JUST MAKING OUT WITH LILY!" he yelled, then put 

his hands over his ears. Remus did the same. The others were not expecting anything like this, so they were a bit shocked when James yelled, louder than could possibly be normal, "WHAT? WHERE IS THAT FILTHY, SLIMY, UGLY, FAT OLD –"

"Glad to have you back," Sirius laughed.

"Wha - ?" James said, a bit dazed.

"It happened again."

'Oh," said James, a bit embarrassed. "Sorry."

"No worries. Let's get on with the book."

"Wait. What just happened here?"

"It's a long story. Let's just get on with the book."

Lily looked a bit odd as she rubbed her ears.

Frank shook his head a bit and continued reading.

**"Well - I was lucky once, wasn't I?" said Harry, pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."**

"You see?"

"He'll be fine!"

"Oh, I hope so!"

**Hermione's lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him.**

"Awww," said Lily. "That's really sweet."

**"Hermione!"**

**"Harry - you're a great wizard, you know."**

**"I'm not as good as you," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.**

**"Me!" said Hermione. "Books! And cleverness! There are more important things - friendship and bravery and - oh Harry - be careful!"**

Lily began sobbing freely on James' shoulder. James put on a brave face and smiled. "That's really nice of her."

**"You drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"  
"Positive," said Hermione. She took a drink from the round bottle at the end and shuddered.**

**"It's not poison?" said Harry anxiously.**

**"No -**

They all let out a sigh of relief.

"Make sure Ron's alright," Sirius said as though to remind Hermione.

"You know she can't hear you, right?"

"Yeah."

**but it's like ice."**

**"Quick, go, before it wears off."**

**"Good luck - take care -"**

**"GO!"**

**Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire. Harry took a deep breath and picked up the smallest bottle. He turned to face the black flames.**

"Good luck, Harry," said Lily and James together.

**"Here I come," he said and he drained the little bottle in one gulp.**

They all held their breath as they waited.

**It was indeed as though ice was flooding his body. He put the bottle down and walked forward; he braced himself, saw the black flamed licking his body, but couldn't feel them - for a moment ho could see nothing but dark fire - then he was on the other side, in the last chamber.**

"Wow. That was a really amazing bit of magic, Snape," Sirius said approvingly.

"Er – thanks," Severus said slowly.

**There was already someone there - but it wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.**

"It was Quirrell," said Severus, smiling.

"Hah!" James said smugly. "Five galleons, Paddy!"

"What! For what?"

"We made a bet. I said it wouldn't be Severus here, and it wasn't. Hand over my money!"

"Damn. I was hoping you'd forget!"

"You know me better than that!"

"Well, that's the end of the chapter," Frank said.

"Should we go to lunch, then?" Lily asked.

"What? No!" James cried. "This is like the best part! We have to read it! This is the last chapter! Please!"

"Fine!"

"Yes!" James said.

"So who's gonna read?" Frank asked.

"I'll do it! Gimme!" James said, reaching for the book.

"You just read! Give someone else a go!"

"I'll do it," Alice said, taking the book.

"But it was supposed to be me next!" Sirius moaned.

"But you couldn't keep quiet," Lily reminded him.

"Oh!" James exclaimed. "That reminds me! If you want to get your hair back,"

Sirius gulped.

"You have to …"

**A/N: I am truly evil. This is where I choose to end the chapter. Mwahahaha! Alright, review time! I hope you liked it! Next chapter is the last one to go up! Yay! It's almost finished! Can you believe this was 59 pages on word?!**

**Ok, now I do have an idea of what I want James to make Sirius do (it involves him being gay, and that's all I can say), but any ideas from you guys would be taken into consideration and greatly appreciated. So put your thinking caps on and give me some ideas! The best one will be chosen!!**

**Oh, and do you think I should make a whole chapter about that, or just add it to the beginning or end of the next chapter?**

**Now R-E-V-I-E-W! I'm already at – wait for it – 329 REVIEWS! Going for 350 before I finish this fic! We can do it!**

**Until next time, Zeinab**


	18. Sirius' Task

**A/N: Alright, this is not the last chapter of the book. Sorry to disappoint. This is just Sirius' task. I didn't have that much time to write since the last update, and everyone wants an update, so I just added this. Don't worry. The next one will be along soon enough. And thanks to all the awesome reviewers for all their ideas, and to shiftyless, magicalhannah7, TayTay88, doing 25 life in Azkaban, Lady Tol, JayCouch, snipemoon, Lord Trixs, Craze666, Little Miss Mischief, cHoc0' caT, Queen Islanzadi and weahhh63 for adding me to their alerts/faves. I still can't believe so many people have added me as faves!!**

**Enjoy Sirius' torment!**

Sirius glared at James with what could only be described as pure hatred.

"How could you do this to me, James?" he said.

"What?" James asked innocently.

"You – you honestly want me to do this?"

"Yes!"

"You want your friend – your best friend – to publicly humiliate himself?"

"Yes."

"But –"

"No buts. That's the deal. You do this and you can have your hair back."

"It's only fair, Paddy," Remus said, fighting back the laughter.

"You said you would do anything, after all!" Tonks grinned.

"But I don't want to!" Sirius moaned.

"You have to. If you want your hair back."

"It's - it's not worth it."

"Really? Your hair – your precious hair – isn't worth it?" James said tantalizingly.

"N – ye - n – ye – no! Yes! Argh!"

The others laughed.

"But – but Snape! He won't agree!"

"Oh, I won't, eh?" Severus asked.

"No! You – you won't!"

"I think I will. I'm perfectly fine with it!"

"But – come on! This is just –"

"Look, Padfoot. Either you do it, or you don't. Decide. Right now."

"But I –"

"Just choose, Sirius," Frank said. "I want to get back to the book!"

"Yeah! Hurry up and decide! So we can all go to lunch!" Alice said, grinning evilly.

"I – I don't know –"

"Just choose! I'm getting really annoyed now!" James said. "If you don't agree now, I'm never growing it back for you! At least not until I think of something _even worse!_"

"What could be worse?" Sirius snorted.

"Oh, I don't know. But I'm sure me and Lily could come up with something!"

"James! Be reasonable!"

"LOOK!" Lily yelled. "We're all hungry. We want to eat lunch, and get back to the book! Don't you want to know what happens? We're all dying to know!"

"So let's just keep reading then," Sirius said hopefully.

"Not a chance. We do this first, get it over with, and then it's the end of the book," James said sternly.

"Hurry up and do it! I want to read already!" Alice moaned.

"Come on, Black. It's about time," Severus smirked.

"Al –alright. I'll do it," Sirius finally gulped.

"YES!" they all yelled happily.

"Where?" asked Sirius apprehensively.

"Hmm …" James said thoughtfully. "What do you guys think?"

"In the grounds?" Tonks suggested

"Everyone's in the Great Hall for lunch, though," Remus said.

"In the Great Hall at lunch it is!" James announced.

"You've got to be kidding!" Sirius cried.

"Do I look like I'm kidding?"

"But – but – the teachers are all there!" Sirius said, aghast.

"So?"

"Come on, guys! No! You can't do this to me!"

"We are!"

"Why not in the grounds? After – after lunch! Or in the Common room?"

"No!" Severus said. "I have to be there."

"And it's too small. There has to be as many people as possible there to watch and bear witness," James grinned.

"But they'll spread it out like wildfire anyway!" Sirius said, though he was not sure if this was a positive or not.

"Fair point, but we want as many people to watch it first hand as possible."

"Then the grounds!" Sirius begged. "Please! Not in front of the teachers!"

"Fine," James sighed. "After lunch. When everyone's outside."

"Al – alright!" Sirius said hesitantly.

"Good. Let's go to lunch then!" Severus said cheerfully. "It's a shame I have to be all the way at the Slytherin table while you guys torture him about it, though."

"Well, you'll be there for the main event, at least," James grinned.

"Stop it!"

"NO!"

"Let's go to lunch already! Let's get it over with and finish the book!" Frank said impatiently.

"Are you saying you don't want to see Sirius do it?" James asked incredulously.

"Of course I want to see him do it! I just want to finish the book as well!"

"The sooner lunch is over, the sooner we get to watch Sirius humiliate himself!" Tonks said gleefully.

"Oh, you're just loving this, aren't you?" Sirius spat.

"'Course I am!" Tonks laughed, leading the way out of the room.

At lunch, people stared and pointed at Sirius' bald, still-green head. Sirius moaned a lot and tried not to be noticed. That was not going to happen. At least, not with James around.

He would say , "Hey, guys, like Sirius' new hairdo?" or, "Does he look a bit off colour?" to everyone he passed, whether he knew them or not.. Everyone pointed at the bald head and laughed at the Slytherin-like colour and the snake.

One Slytherin actually came up to them, perhaps on a dare, as they were walking up to the table and said, "Hey, Black, why didn't you tell us how much you wanted to be a Slytherin? We can't blame you for being jealous of us and wanting to be in our house, but have some dignity."

Sirius's head turned red, which was barely noticeable under the green, and he spat back at the boy, "What's this got to do with Slytherin? What could I, Sirius Black, who is currently in the best house ever, want in _Slytherin?"_

The boy seemed unfazed and sneered, "Well, apparently, Severus Snape."

Sirius turned into an odd colour then, and glared at James. James and the others fought to control their laughter. They couldn't wait to see what happened out in the grounds.

"Brilliant. I'm famished," James said, piling food onto his plate before the others even sat down.

"How can you eat when your friend is being tortured?" Sirius said, sitting as far away from James as possible, while still being in their little group.

"Come on, Padfoot. Have some food," Remus said, just as Ludo Bagman began to approach them.

"No thanks. I'm not really hungry."

"S'pose he's moe queasy tha he is hunry," James said through a mouthful of pork chops.

"Urgh. Close your mouth when you eat, Jimmy," said Tonks.

"IcadowhaevaIwanno!" James said.

"I have no idea what he just said."

"None of us do."

James shrugged and continued eating.

"Ah, love the new look, Sirius," Ludo said, fighting the urge to laugh. "Though I'm not too sure about that green. And that snake! Disgraceful! You're a Gryffindor! And on the team, no less!"

Sirius looked scornfully at James, who grinned and said, "It was our gift to him, Ludo. Isn't it a masterpiece?"

Ludo began laughing and looked at the others. "Well done. A true masterpiece indeed. Excellent. Such precision in the snake. And exactly the same shade of green as the Slytherins. Verrryyyyy niiice!"

"Thanks," beamed Frank and Alice.

"But this is nothing," James said.

"Nothing?" Ludo scoffed. "What else could possibly be done?"

"Oh, you wait till we get out to the grounds and see. Pure genius! You'll love it!"

"I'll be looking forward to it. I've got to run, now. That other beater, Peakes, is giving me hell for putting a practice on a date he had with someone."

"Oh. Who's he going out with?"

"Emmaline Vance, I think her name was."

"Oh. Well, we don't want to keep you from that, so off you go."

"How nice of you," Ludo said sarcastically, before moving further down the table to be confronted be a very angry-looking Peakes.

All throughout lunch, Sirius had his head in his hands, eating absolutely nothing as the others tormented him. He looked up only when a wheezy voice said, sounding rather hurt, "Where've you all been?"

Sirius gulped and looked up to see Peter standing on the other side of the table, behind Frank and James.

"I forgot he'd be at lunch!" Lily whispered furiously to Alice.

"What should we do?" Alice whispered back.

Lily was about to reply when James, being the idiot that he was, said , "Pete! Where've you been? We were just about to fini –"

Lily kicked him under the table. Hard. James got the message and stopped talking.

"Why'd you guys ditch me?"

"Er –" James said, looking at Lily.

"We didn't ditch you! You never came back from the bathroom!" Lily lied.

"Yes I did!" Peter wheezed. "And you weren't there!"

"We were there! You forgot where we were!"

"I – that wasn't – oh. M – maybe I did forget. I guess it could have happened," Peter said slowly.

"See!" James said, trying his best to grin.

Peter slowly sat down between Lily and Alice, both of whom flinched away from him the tiniest bit, before forcing themselves to relax.

"So where were you this morning?"

"Well, we all woke up early, and – er – you know how impatient Prongs can get!" Sirius said.

"I, well, I guess."

"Good then."

"So … have you been reading all this time?"

"Yes," Lily said, rolling her eyes. "And we are almost finished."

"B – but … why didn't you call me?"

"We just told you!"

"Oh, right."

"It was a good thing Peter isn't that bright," Frank muttered to Alice, who smiled.

They finished lunch, telling Peter as much as they could remember from the book, and headed out to the grounds.

"So we're reading in the grounds?" Peter asked.

"No, we're reading in the Room," Remus said.

"So are we taking a break or something?" asked a confused Peter.

"Well, not exactly," James grinned. "Padfoot has a little something he has to do before we continue. If Snape would just hurry – "

"Snape?" Wormtail said in shock. "Why are we waiting for him?"

"Well, he's reading with us."

"Really? You'll read with him but –"

"Snape!" James yelled as Severus came hurrying towards them.

"Did I miss it?" he asked worriedly. "I came out as soon as I saw you walking out."

"No, it's alright. We're actually a bit early going out. We'll wait for everyone to be outside and all relaxed, and then Sirius can do his thing," James finished with a huge smile on his face.

Sirius moaned as they sat down underneath their favourite beech tree.

Soon, people started to pile out of the castle and settle down in various spots on the grounds. James' grin grew wider and wider as more and more people came out.

Sirius hung his head and closed his eyes.

"Alright," James finally said, "this is about enough people. The rest will just have to hear about it. Go on , then, Paddy."

Sirius gulped and stood up slowly.

He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He sighed and tried again.

"I, Sirius-"

But James said, "Louder!"

Sirius tried again. "I, SIRIUS –"

"Wait a minute," James said, and he pointed his wand at Sirius' throat. "Now go."

Sirius frowned and when he began to speak, his voice was magnified like it was in Quidditch World Cup matches.

"I – huh? Oh."

All eyes stared at Sirius. James suspected that everyone could hear from inside as well. Even in the towers, probably.

" I, SIRIUS BLACK, AM – AM –" Sirius gulped. More people poured out of the castle at the sound of Sirius' magically magnified voice." AM IN L – L – L – LOVE WITH S – S – S – S – SEV – SEVERUS SN – SNAPE!"

It took a second for everyone to register what he had just said, and in that time Sirius hurriedly sat down, turning bright red. That's when a tumultuous roar of laughter, louder than Sirius' voice had just been, filled the grounds.

"Aren't you forgetting a bit?" James teased him.

"NO – " Sirius said, but his voice was still magnified, so everyone heard it and turned their attention back to Sirius, still laughing.

"Go on, or you won't get your hair back!" James hissed in his ear.

Sirius slowly got back up and added, "A – AND I WOULD LIKE TO – TO ASK HIM OUT IN – INFRONT OF EVERYONE."

The grounds were filled with renewed laughter, and one or two wolf whistles. Severus, who was probably laughing the hardest, patted Sirius on the back as he sat down and said to everyone, "I AM SORRY TO DISAPPOINT SIRIUS, HERE, BUT I MUST SAY NO. I DON'T SWING THAT WAY. I AM COMPLETELY STRAIGHT." More laughter, even louder, if that was possible.

Severus was about to sit back down when he thought of something else to say to mortify Sirius further.

"BUT DON'T WORRY, SIRIUS, I'M SURE YOU'LL FIND SOMEONE ELSE. THE RIGHT MAN IS OUT THERE SOMEWHERE."

This was too much for everyone to handle. Overkill.

People were rolling around on the grass, laughing their heads of, others were clutching their stomachs from laughing so hard and some were gasping for breath.

But all that was nothing compared to what the people sitting nearest Sirius were doing.

James was practically in tears, Lily was bent double, laughing her head off, Remus and Tonks were both rolling on the ground, having the time of their lives, Severus was trying his best not to keep talking and embarrass Sirius further(though he might not be able to get any comprehendible words out any longer), while Alice and Frank were literally pointing at Sirius and laughing as though they were insane.

But even all that could not compare to what Peter was going through. He was unfortunately not aware of what was about to happen, and at the time was eating a cupcake he had grabbed from lunch. He spat a mouthful out, and nearly choked from laughter and partially shock as Sirius spoke, and was now dangerously close to wetting himself.

"Al – alright," gasped James, barely managing to get out the words, "you – you ca – can ha – have your h – hair b – b – back.

"Now."

"L – la – later. In – Room – later – Read – F – first."

"Fine."

"That was hilarious!" came a booming voice they had all heard recently.

"Ludo!" James grinned. "D - did you en - joy that?"

"Of course! That was brilliant. Exactly like you said it would be! And good for you, Sirius, coming out like that. In front of everyone! And Snape! Who knew? I guess we always tease the one we truly – "

"I AM NOT GAY!" Sirius yelled angrily, and his voice boomed around the grounds, still magnified.

This only increased the already-over-the-top laughter.

"Take off this bloody spell already!" he hissed at James, and, naturally, everyone heard. More laughter.

James could not manage to sober up enough to lift the charm. Ludo smiled and took it off for him.

"Thank you!" Sirius said irritably.

"Any time. Oh, no , there's Peakes. I've gotta run."

"Can we go in already and read?" Sirius hissed angrily.

"Fine," sighed James. "Let's go."

"And as soon as we're in there, I want my hair back!"

"After the last chapter."

"NO! As soon as we are safely in that room, my hair is coming back! Understand?"

"Just do it, James," sighed Lily. "He did what we asked him to. It's only fair that he gets his hair back as soon as possible."

"And what about the green?" Sirius added.

"I told you that will come off by itself tomorrow," Alice said.

"And the snake?"

"Same."

"Too bad this damn gay thing won't go away as well," muttered Sirius.

"No. That will stay with you FOREVER!" James said with an evil laugh as they made their way to the seventh floor.

Sirius grumbled the whole way up, taking out the map to avoid meeting anyone on the way there. The others followed with no objection.

They finally got to the Room, and Sirius quickly ran in front of it three times, and a door appeared, as usual.

They stepped inside, and the room had changed.

**A/N: Well, I hope this chapter satisfied everyone, at least until the next one is out. It's reviw time now! Yay! The more you guys review the more I write! Come on! We've got … wait for it … 374 reviews!! Wow! Alright, you know what I'm going for next! Let's get to 400!**

**Now R-E-V-I-E-W!!**


	19. The End

**A/N: Well, here you go … the last chapter. The big one. The end of the fic. I'd like to thank everyone who added me as a fave/alert, every single reviewer, it really means a lot. Especially PrettyFanGirl for reviewing EVERY SINGLE CHAPTER! This chapter is dedicated to you!**

**Enjoy!!**

"What did you do!" roared James angrily. Sirius smirked. He room was different alright. There were pictures everywhere. Embarrassing ones. The kind that you want no one to ever find out about. The kind that you can't, or shouldn't, describe. And they were all of James.

"Good luck trying to get your hair back now, you big fat git!" James snarled as the others laughed hysterically, staggering into the room and falling to the ground. It was almost as much as they had laughed outside, in the grounds.

"No. That's not fair. This has nothing to do with the deal! You said if I told everyone I was g – gay, and asked him out, I would get back my hair! You're not a man if you go back on your word right now!" Sirius exclaimed as they entered the room.

"Fine," James said grudgingly, and in the blink of the eye, it was back. All of it.

"Oh, Thank God!" Sirius cried, conjuring a mirror to gaze at it. "But it's all … wrong. It's all messy, and greasy, and ruffled … What did you do to it?"

"Well, I may have given you someone else's hair," James said thoughtfully, not sure if he had done it right.

"WHAT?" bellowed Sirius.

"Alright, enough. Let's get to the book," Frank said.

"No! What did you do to my hair? Where is it?"

"I don't know!" James answered truthfully. "It might be yours! It is! Look, it's yours!"

"It's going to take me ages to get it back to the way it was!" Sirius moaned.

"Alright, Sirius, stop being such a girl and let us get back to reading the book," said Tonks. The others all laughed as Sirius began to fume.

"I am not a girl! It is completely normal for a guy to like his hair and want it to look good!" he yelled at her.

"No, it's not. Look at Jimmy here," Alice said.

"Hey!"

"Look, his hair is all messy! Does he care?"

"I'll have you know that it is damn near impossible to tame the Potter hair!" James said defensively, but he was ignored yet again.

"Well, Jimmy doesn't count. He's not normal."

"True," nodded Severus.

"HEY!"

"OI!" Remus cried over the arguing. "The book, people! Last chapter! Remember?"

"Yeah, I'm reading!" Alice announced.

"I should get to read!" Sirius said. "After what I've just been through!"

"Fine," Alice said unwillingly, handing him the book.

"Sweet. Okay, last chapter! Everybody settle down now."

They all made themselves comfortable, sitting down in a circle again.

**The Man With Two Faces**

"What?" Lily yelled.

"Well, that's interesting."

"T – t – two f – faces?" whimpered Peter.

"I'll bet Voldemort –" Peter flinched – "is the other face."

**It was Quirrell.**

"Hah! I knew it!" Remus yelled in delight.

"What was Quirrell?" asked Peter.

"The man waiting in the last room after the trap door."

"And what's he there for again?"

"To get the Philosopher's Stone."

"And why does he want that?"

"Merlin, Peter, we already explained all of this to you!" James said exasperatedly.

"Sorry. I forgot!"

"The Stone will bring Voldemort – oh, stop whining! – back."

**"You!" gasped Harry.  
Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.**

"He faked it!" yelled Sirius.

**"Me," he said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter."**

**"But I thought - Snape -"**

**"Severus?" Quirrell laughed and it wasn't his usual quivering treble, either, but cold and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he?**

"Hey!"

"Well, if we're being honest, you do," James said. "You were practically breathing down their necks the whole time."

"Still."

**So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat.**

"HEY! Now that's taking it too far!" Severus yelled. "Is this guy in school right now?"

"I – I think so," Frank said, thinking it over. "Third year, Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff, eh?" Severus said seriously.

"I'm surprised he's not in Slytherin."

"Nah. Not smart enough or something," Alice said.

"Yeah."

**Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"**

"We did!" Remus, James and Severus yelled.

"He faked a stutter?" Sirius said, appalled. "Man, this guy is low!"

**Harry couldn't take this in. This couldn't be true, it couldn't.**

**"But Snape tried to kill me!"**

"No! He did! Can't he see it?" Severus asked.

"Apparently not," Alice said.

**"No, no, no. I tried to kill you.**

"See?"

"I knew it from the moment it mentioned Hermione knocked him over!" Remus said happily.

**Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at the Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you.**

"Thank Merlin for that!" James grinned.

"Otherwise Harry'd be dead!"

"Sirius!" Lily cried. "Don't even say such things!"

**Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom.**

"Why that filthy little – Third year Hufflepuff, did you say?" James asked Frank furiously.

"Yeah."

"We'll have to get him," Sirius said.

"Yeah!"

"B – bu – but he – he's got V – V – V – You-know-who on the b – back of his h – head!" Peter whimpered.

"Don't be daft! He doesn't have him on his head, _now!_" James laughed. "There's still years before that happens!"

"Oh."

**I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter-curse, trying to save you."**

Severus grinned broadly. "I knew it!" he exclaimed.

"Thanks for that," James said.

"Er – no problem, Potter."

"Forget Potter, it's James," James grinned.

"No, it's Jimmy," Sirius whispered to Severus, who laughed.

"Jimmy it is," Severus grinned.

"PADFOOT!" James yelled.

**"Snape was trying to save me?"**

**"Of course," said Quirrell coolly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match?**

"I was trying to make sure he didn't do it again," Severus nodded.

**He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again.**

Severus blinked.

**Funny, really ... he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching.**

"That's true."

"Even that git isn't dumb enough to try and pull that off with Dumbledore watching."

**All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor winning, he did make himself unpopular ... and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."**

"Like hell you are!" James growled furiously as Lily clung to his arm.

**Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air and wrapped themselves tightly around Harry.**

"Hey! That's cheating!" Sirius yelled.

"No, Padfoot," sighed Remus, "it's magic!"

"Oh, yeah. Right."

**"You're too nosy to live, Potter. Scurrying around the school at Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone."**

"And he let the troll in, then," James said.

"Yes, I already figured that out."

**"You let the troll in?"**

**"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls - you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running about looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off -**

"HAH! I suspected him!" Severus said triumphantly.

**and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death,**

"As if a troll could kill a Potter!" James said.

"No, but a tickle can," Tonks said cheekily.

"Hey! That's completely different!" James said.

**that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly."**

Severus scowled.

"And a giant three-headed dog couldn't kill Severus, either!" James said.

"Though it could come close," Frank added fairly.

"But he said bite off his leg, not kill," Sirius pointed out.

"Whatever!"

**"Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror."**

"NO! Don't stay quiet!" James said.

"Let the inner Potter in you shine and scream as loud as you can!" Sirius said.

"Sing an annoying song!" Frank yelled.

"Start saying random words!" Tonks said.

"Keep repeating one word over and over!" said James.

"Merlin, you lot sure know how to be annoying!" Lily laughed.

"Well, of course we do!" James said matter-of-factly.

"If we didn't, who would?" asked Sirius?"

"What would the world have come to if the Marauders can't be annoying!" James said dramatically.

"I'm sure that would be tragic!" Alice said sarcastically. "Now read!"

**It was only then that Harry realized what was standing behind Quirrell. It was the Mirror of Erised.**

"How'd that get there?" asked Frank.

"Dumbledore said he was moving it," said Remus. "This must be where he put it."

"No wonder he told Harry not to go looking for it."

Peter looked thoroughly confused.

"What's the Mirror of Erised?" he asked.

"Bloody hell, we forgot to tell him about that," Sirius said.

"Well, obviously."

"We suck at explaining. We really do," James said.

"Speak for yourselves!" Alice snorted.

"Well then, why didn't you mention it? You were there!"

"Er – "Alice mumbled. The truth was that she didn't want to talk with Peter that much. And she _had _forgotten that part.

"Exactly."

"So," James explained, "while Harry was hiding from Filch –"

"Why was he hiding from Filch?" asked Peter.

"Er – oh, because he was in the Restricted section of the library –"

"Why was he there?"

"To look up Nicholas Flamel," James said, rolling his eyes. "So –"

"Who's Nicholas Flamel?"

"The guy who made the Stone!" James said irritably. "So. He was there late at night –"

"How did he manage that?"

"Because he had my cloak!"

"How'd he get that?"

"Someone gave it to him! Ok?" James yelled angrily. "So. While he was running, he found a room with a mirror. The mirror shows you your heart's desire."

"What did it show a Harry?"

"Us," James said.

Peter gave a small, "oh," before Sirius continued reading.

**"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmured, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this ...**

"I'll bet it's made so only Dumbledore can get it or something," Sirius said.

"No. I don't think that's possible."

"Why not?"

"I just don't," Remus said.

**but he's in London ... I'll be far away by the time he gets back ..."**

"No you won't!" James and Lily yelled.

"Harry'll stop you!"

**All Harry could think of doing was to keep Quirrell talking and stop him concentrating on the Mirror.**

"Yeah. Distract him."

**"I saw you and Snape in the Forest -" he blurted out.**

"Oh, come up with something better, son!" James said.

"He's under a lot of pressure, James!" Lily scolded him. "Leave him be."

**"Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the Mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got.**

"I obviously didn't succeed," Severus muttered.

**He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me - as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort**

Peter flinched.

"Oh, come on now, Wormtail. Stop being scared of his name!" Sirius said.

"Say it!" James encouraged him.

"Say it! Say it!" chanted Sirius and James.

"Fine! V – V – Vol – Voldemort!" Peter said, flinching as he did. The other Marauders cheered.

**on my side ..."**

**Quirrell came back out from behind the Mirror and stared hungrily into it.  
"I see the Stone ... I'm presenting it to my master ... but where is it?"**

"That is a really weird mirror," Peter said.

"You said it," James snorted.

"I – I did," said Peter, a little confused.

"Never mind," James said, rolling his eyes.

**Harry struggled against the ropes binding him,**

"They won't give," Frank said.

"Unless you're me, and you have a special talent for wriggling out," Sirius grinned.

**but they didn't give. He had to keep Quirrell from giving his whole attention to the Mirror.**

**"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much."**

"I probably do," Severus said.

**"Oh, he does," said Quirrell casually, "Heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other.**

"Not anymore," James shrugged.

**But he never wanted you dead."**

"Good God no! I'd never do that to Li – er – Harry!"

**"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing - I thought Snape was threatening you ..."**

**For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.**

"Hah! Feel the fear!" James cried.

"What?"

"I don't know."

**"Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions - he is a great wizard**

"No he is not!" they all yelled, even Peter, though his was barely more than a whisper.

**and I am weak -"**

"Well, that's for sure," snorted Lily.

"Definitely," James grinned.

**"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped.**

"No," Peter gulped. "H – h – he's on th – the b – back of his h – head!"

"Merlin, you sound like Quirrell when he was putting on his stutter!" James scoffed.

**"He is with me wherever I go," said Quirrell quietly.**

"How does Harry not realize?" Sirius asked.

"Because he hasn't read the title, Padfoot," James reminded him.

"Oh, right. Forgot about that."

**"I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then,**

"Still are, you slimy git," James said.

**full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil.**

**Lord Voldemort**

"Oh, stop flinching already, Wormtail!" James scolded.

"I can't help it!"

"Come on! We can all say it!"

"I said it!"

"Just barely. And you still flinched."

"So?"

"Fear of a name … damn, I forgot again," Sirius said.

"Only increases fear of the thing itself," James finished for him. "Right?" he added.

"Yes," Lily sighed.

**showed me how wrong I was.**

"He can't be any more right than Quirrell was," Tonks said.

**There is no good and evil,**

"Oh, I have got to hear this," Sirius scoffed.

**There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it ...**

"That's wrong!" James frowned.

"There is too good and evil!" Tonks exclaimed.

"And Voldemort is just pure evil!" Alice yelled.

**Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times.**

"Not particularly surprising," snorted Frank.

**He has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly.**

"Let's hope it really hurt that git," James muttered.

**"He does not forgive mistakes easily.**

"I'll bet he doesn't," snarled Sirius.

"So why does he have followers? I just don't get it!" Tonks cried.

"Well, they all want power, Tonks," Remus explained. "And Voldemort … he can give that to them, I guess."

"Well, that doesn't make an sense at all!"

**When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts,**

"So that was him too," nodded James.

"I'm surprised he managed to get in and out without getting caught!" Severus exclaimed.

**he was most displeased. He punished me ... decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me ..."**

They shuddered.

**Quirrell's voice tailed away. Harry was remembering his trip to Diagon Alley - how could he have been so stupid? He'd seen Quirrell there that very day,**

"Oh yeah!"

"Forgot about that."

**shaken hands with him in the Leaky Cauldron.**

"Can't believe he touched that piece of vermin!" James snarled.

**Quirrell cursed under his breath.**

**"I don't understand ... is the Stone inside the Mirror? Should I break it?"**

"That won't do any good," Remus snorted.

"That way no one would ever get it!" James exclaimed.

"So break it!" Sirius yelled. "Then Voldemort won't be able to get it!"

"But then what would happen to Nicholas Flamel?" asked Peter.

"Oh yeah. He needs the stone."

"I'm sure there's got to be another way to get it," Lily said.

"Then Voldemort could just get it from there," Sirius pointed out.

"Whatever, don't break the mirror then," James shrugged.

**Harry's mind was racing.**

**What I want more than anything else in the world at the moment, he thought, is to find the Stone before Quirrell does. **

"Really?" asked an impressed Remus. "Good for him."

"Why?" asked Tonks.

"Because he wants it, but not to use it. To stop Quirrell from getting it. That's something," Remus said.

James and Lily beamed with pride.

**So if I look in the Mirror, I should see myself finding it - which means I'll see where it's hidden!**

"Yeah!" James exclaimed.

"I see logic in that," nodded Severus.

"My boy's a genius!" James yelled in delight.

"Get's that from Lily," coughed Alice.

"What did you say there?" James asked her.

"Nothing."

James scowled.

**But how can I look without Quirrell realizing what I'm up to?**

"Hmmm. That's a good question," Lily said.

"Maybe he could try and position himself in front of it, even if he is far away," Severus said.

"But will he be able to see it?"

"Hmmm."

**He tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing,**

"You see?" Severus grinned.

**but the ropes round his ankles were too tight: he tripped and fell over.**

"Damn it," breathed Lily.

"Now what?"

**Quirrell ignored him. He was still talking to himself.  
"What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"**

Peter whimpered even more.

"Bet you wish you weren't reading this, eh?" Sirius joked.

" – n – no! I – I – I w – want to!" Peter stuttered.

"Good for you."

"I – I – is V – Vo – Vold – V – Vo – Vo – "

"Voldemort!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Right," Peter shuddered. "Is h – he going t – to come th – there? A – and an – ans – answer?"

"Merlin, I hope not!" Lily yelled, grabbing hold of James' arm yet again.

**And to Harry's horror, a voice answered,**

Peter let out a tiny squeak of horror.

"Th – th – that – that's V – V – V … " and then he fainted.

"Pete!" yelled James.

"Wormtail! Oi!" Sirius called, moving over to where Peter was now lying on the ground with the rest of the Marauders.

"_Augmenti!" _Remus said, pointing his wand at Peter's face. Water gushed out and splashed over Peter, who spluttered a bit and woke up.

"You ok?" asked Sirius.

"F – fine," Peter replied, a bit embarrassed.

"Good. Let's get on with it," Lily said, too worried about her own son to be worried about anyone else, let alone Peter.

**and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself.**

They all shuddered.

**"Use the boy ... use the boy ..."**

"NO!" Lily cried, getting up with James.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE YOU B&!D!" James thundered furiously.

**Quirrell rounded on Harry. "Yes - Potter - come here."**

**He clapped his hands once and the ropes binding Harry fell off. Harry got slowly to his feet.**

**"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the Mirror and tell me what you see."**

**Harry walked towards him.  
"I must lie," he thought desperately. "I must look and lie about what I see, that's all."**

"Yes. Do that."

**Quirrell moved close behind him. Harry breathed in the funny smell that seemed to come from Quirrell's turban.**

Peter screamed yet again as Lily and James began pacing in the middle of their circle together.

**He closed his eyes, stepped in front of the Mirror and opened them again.  
He saw his reflection, pale and scared-looking at first. But a moment later, the reflection smiled at him. **

Lily and James froze in the middle of the circle. Then they sat down slowly where they were standing.

**It put its hand into its pocket and pulled out a blood-red stone.**

"He's got the Stone!" cried Peter.

"Don't be daft!" James almost laughed. "He can't have gotten the Stone by just seeing it in the Mirror. Otherwise Quirrell would've had it ages ago!"

**It winked and put the Stone back in its pocket - and as it did so, Harry felt something heavy drop into his real pocket.**

They all gasped collectively.

"He's got the Stone!" Peter yelled again. "I told you!"

"Wow!" James breathed.

"That is a really weird, weird Mirror," Sirius said slowly.

"Yup. That's for sure," nodded Severus.

"But … how?" asked Alice.

"Maybe you need to want the Stone, but not use it for your own good or something," Tonks guessed.

"That's ridiculous," snorted Sirius.

"Makes no sense at all!" James scoffed.

**Somehow - incredibly - he'd got the Stone.**

"Yes! Yes! Now just run away!" Tonks cried.

"He can't! There's fire around them, isn't there?" Peter said.

"Merlin, how come you're being all smart now? What happened in the few hours we weren't with you?" James asked in shock.

Peter shrugged and blushed the tiniest bit. "I don't know," he muttered.

**"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"**

**Harry screwed up his courage.**

"Screwed up his courage?" scoffed Sirius. "How does one screw up their courage?"

"I don't know. Ask J.K. Rowling," James said.

"Well, she's probably not even alive yet," Sirius said.

"I guess she could be. Does it say how old she is?" asked James. "But she'd be a baby now, right?"

"Look! It doesn't matter!" Lily exclaimed. "What does matter is what is going to happen to my son!"

James frowned at her.

"Fine! _Our_ son!" Lily cried in exasperation. "Now get on with it!"

**"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invented. "I - I've won the House Cup for Gryffindor."**

"Oh, come on!" James cried. "You can do so much better than that! You've got Marauder blood, boy!"

"Stop it, James!" Lily scolded. "He's under a lot of pressure!"

**Quirrell cursed again.**

**"Get out of the way," he said. As Harry moved aside he felt the Philosopher's Stone against his leg. Dare he make a break for it?**

"YES!" they all yelled.

"RUN! RUN! RUN!" James cried.

"RUN LIKE THE WIND!" Severus said.

"GO! GET OUT OF THERE!" yelled Sirius.

They were all jumping up and down, bouncing on their seats or getting up completely.

**But he hadn't walked five paces before a high voice spoke, though Quirrell wasn't moving his lips.  
"He lies ... He lies ..."**

"Damn!" yelled Tonks.

"Voldemort must know Legilimency!" moaned Severus.

"He must know what now?" Sirius asked.

"Legilimency."

"And that is … ?"

"I told you already!"

"Well, you can't expect me to remember!" Sirius said defensively.

"Actually, I can."

"Well, what is it?"

"It's like … like … being able to see what's in someone else's mind. To see their thoughts, to -"

"So basically to read their minds?" Sirius said.

"The mind isn't a book, Black," sighed Severus. "It's complex. But .. I guess you could say that. If you wanted to put it in laymen's terms."

"In whose terms?" asked Sirius.

"La – never mind," sighed Severus.

**"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell the truth! What did you just see?"**

"He's not gonna tell you!"

**The high voice spoke again.  
"Let me speak to him ... face to face ..."**

"NO!" yelled Lily.

**"Master, you are not strong enough!"**

"Yes! Make excuses! Don't let him!" Lily cried.

**"I have strength enough ... for this ..."  
Harry felt as if the Devil's Snare was rooting him to the spot. He couldn't move a muscle.**

"No! Run Harry, run!" sobbed Lily. "Get out of there!"

"Run!" James said worriedly.

**Petrified, he watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban.**

"Don't just stand there!" Frank yelled.

"You haven't been Petrified!" Alice yelled. "Get out of there!"

"Move, Harry!" Tonks yelled.

**What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.**

Peter began shaking. Lily hid her face in James' shoulder. James stared at the book without really looking at it.

**Harry would have screamed, but he couldn't make a sound. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face,**

"Oh, God!"

**the most terrible face Harry had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.**

Peter let out a loud yelp, before hiding his head under a cushion. James hugged Lily tightly.

Tonks grabbed Remus' arm, which stiffened slightly at her touch, but soon relaxed as he put his arm around her to comfort her.

**"Harry Potter ..." it whispered.**

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY HIS NAME!" Lily roared furiously, no longer crying.

**Harry tried to take a step backwards but his legs wouldn't move.  
"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour ... I have form only when I can share another's body ... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds ... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks ... you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the Forest ... and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own ...**

They all listened and stared, transfixed, as Sirius read.

"You'll never get it!" James yelled.

**Now ... why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"**

James gulped.

"H – h – how – how did he kn – know?" Peter stuttered.

"I told you. He must know legilimency," Severus said in a quiet voice.

**So he knew.**

"Yes."

"So you should run."

**The feeling suddenly surged back into Harry's legs.**

"Good. Now run!" Remus said. Tonks widened her eyes and let go of Remus quickly, blushing deep red. But none of them noticed … except Remus.

**He stumbled backwards.  
"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me ...**

"He would NEVER!" roared James.

**or you'll meet the same end as you parents ... they died begging me for mercy ..."**

"HY THAT L YING LITTLE ASS! LIKE HELL WE BEGGED FOR MERCY FROM HIM!" Lily bellowed.

**"LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly.**

Everyone's eyes widened in fear.

"Wh – what did he j – just –" began Peter, but James cut across him.

"He stood up to him!" James said. "Atta boy, Harry!"

**Quirrell was walking backwards at him, so that Voldemort could still see him. The evil face was now smiling.**

"So punch him and wipe off that smile!" James cried.

**"How touching ..." it hissed. "I always value bravery ... Yes, boy, you're parents were brave ... I killed your father first and he put up a courageous fight ...**

"You bet I did!" James nodded fiercely.

**but your mother needn't have died ...**

Severus looked somewhere between disgusted and outraged.

James and Lily were both shaking with anger and sadness.

But it was mostly anger for James.

"THEN WHY THE BLOODY HELL DID YOU KILL HER, YOU B&!#D!" he yelled.

"Prongs, mate, calm down. It's – it's in the past now," Sirius said. "er – I mean the future. Or the past. No, the future!"

The others gave short, nervous laughs.

"He's right!" Remus said suddenly.

"Right about what?" asked Sirius.

"It's in the future! It hasn't happened yet!" exclaimed Remus.

"So we can stop it!" James cried.

"YES!"

"We have to."

"I'll help," Severus said.

"Us too!" Alice said, answering for both herself and Frank.

"So will I, of course," Sirius grinned.

"Me too," Remus said.

"I will too!" Tonks beamed.

"No way!" Remus told her immediately.

"What! Why not?" she cried.

"It's gonna be way too dangerous!"

"But … well, you're not that much older than me!"

"But we're almost of age. We're going to be out of Hogwarts in two more years, so we have time before we can … do whatever. But you … you're still too young."

"What! That's not fair! I can still help! I'll help when I'm old enough!"

"And that won't be for a while."

"Come on!"

"No," they all said at once.

"But – "

"No."

**but your mother needn't have died ...**

James' face hardened again.

**she was trying to protect you ...**

They both stiffened.

"Well of course I was!" Lily sobbed.

**Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."**

"Why that filthy little –"

**"NEVER!"**

"You didn't have to shout, Padfoot," Remus said, rubbing his ears.

"I did."

**Harry sprang towards the flame door, but Voldemort screamed, "SEIZE HIM!" and, next second, Harry felt Quirrell's hands close on his wrist.**

"NO!" Lily yelled hysterically.

"I swear … if one hair on my son's head is damaged, that boy won't live to see Christmas!" James swore.

**At once, a needle-sharp pain seared scross Harry's scar; his head felt as though it was about to split in two; he yelled, struggling with all his might, and to his surprise, Quirrell let go of him.**

"You had better let go!" James spat. "If you know what's good for you, you won't touch him again!"

"Wait – why'd he let go?" frowned Severus.

**The pain in his head lessened - he looked around wildly to see where Quirrell had gone and saw him hunched in pain, looking at his fingers - they were blistering before his eyes.**

"Now that is freaky!" Sirius shuddered.

"How did that happen?" frowned Alice.

"Who cares? As long as it got him off Harry!" Lily cried.

"Probably wandless magic," Remus said.

"Cool! Mini-Prongs can do wandless magic!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Er – Paddy … everyone can do wandless magic. What do you think you do as a child?" said James.

"Oh, right. Well, you know what I mean. He can do adult wandless magic!"

**"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" shrieked Voldemort again and Quirrell lunged,**

"Oh no you don't!" roared James. "You leave him alone!"

**knocking Harry clean off his feet,**

"I'm gonna murder him! I'm gonna murder him!" James said matter-of-factly. "I'll just have to murder him!"

**landing on top of him, both hands round Harry's neck -**

"Get off my son!" Lily yelled.

**Harry's scar was almost blinding him with pain, yet he could see Quirrell howling in agony.**

"Excellent!"Frank cried.

"Now get off!" cried Tonks.

"**Master, I cannot hold him - my hands - my hands!"**

"Harry is doing some serious damage!" Sirius grinned.

"Just read!"

**And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms - Harry could see they looked burnt, raw, red and shiny.**

"That's really weird," said Peter.

"How d'you suppose Harry's doing that?" asked Severus.

"I honestly have no clue," Remus said slowly.

"Amazing! This has got to be the first time that Moony – Mr. Know-It-All – doesn't know something!" exclaimed Sirius.

"It seems like someone is asking for their hair to be shaved off again!" Remus said dangerously. Sirius gulped and went quiet.

"Oh, hell no!" bellowed James.

"You do not touch my son!" Lily screamed at the book, and Sirius winced.

**Quirrell raised his hand to perform a deadly curse,**

They all gasped.

"Th – th - the – the –Av – Av – Avada- K – K – K – Ked – Kedavra!" stuttered a horrified Peter.

"NO!" roared James.

**but Harry, by instinct, reached up and grabbed Quirrell's face -"AAARGH!"**

"Yes! Good thinking, Harry!"

**Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too, and then Harry knew: Quirrell couldn't touch his bare skin, not without suffering terrible pain-**

"That is – " began Remus, but James interrupted.

"Shh! Let him read! This is killing me! We have to know what happens! Shhh!" James said.

**his only chance was to keep hold of Quirrell, keep him in enough pain to stop him doing a curse.**

"Yes!"

"Touch him everywhere!" Sirius yelled. "Make him – "

"Uhh … Paddy … I don't think I want my son touching him _everywhere_. He's not gay like you," James said, despite his obvious agitation with the book.

Sirius almost let out a smile. "Shut it."

**Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm and hung on as tight as he could.**

**Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off - the pain in Harry's head was building - he couldn't see - **

"Well, that can't be helping!"

**he could only hear Quirrell's terrible shrieks and Voldemort's yells of "KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" and other voices, maybe in Harry's own head, crying, "Harry! Harry!"**

"Heh, maybe that's us," joked Sirius.

"Siri, how could it possibly be us?" Tonks scoffed.

"I was just joking!"

"Must be Hermione with Dumbledore!" Remus exclaimed.

"Yes!"

"Thank Merlin!"

**He felt Quirrell's arm wrenched from his grasp, knew all was lost, and fell into blackness,**

"WHAT?" yelled Lily. "No!"

"No!" moaned James. "Get up! Get UP!"

"Don't go there! No! Not now!" Alice shrieked.

**down ... down ... down ...**

"NO, NO, NO!" sobbed Lily.

"Harry," James croaked. "G – get up! Up up up!"

"He's ok," Remus said.

"How can you say that?" James said, close to tears himself.

"He's just passed out. He'll be fine."

"But then – then Quirrell will kill him!" James cried. "Unless I kill him now! Where is he! Let's find him on the map and do it now!"

"James!" Remus cried in shock. "What's gotten into you, mate?"

"But – he – and Harry – Voldemort – I – They – But – Argh! I'm going insane!"

"Calm down!" Remus said loudly. "Look, Dumbledore was on his way, right? He'll be there soon. They'll be alright."

James looked up hopefully and gave a long, heavy sigh. Lily stopped crying and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah. D – Dumbledore's there."

**Something gold was glinting just above him.**

"What?" Peter asked.

"Has he gone insane too?" asked Tonks.

"Well, like father like son," Sirius said, lightening the mood. He had a knack for that.

**The Snitch!**

"The Snitch?" they all said curiously.

**He tried to catch it, but his arms were too heavy.**

"What's wrong with him?" Lily asked worriedly.

**He blinked. It wasn't the Snitch at all. It was a pair of glasses.**

They all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dumbledore!" Lily and James said happily.

**How strange.**

**He blinked again. The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore**

"YES!" they all cheered.

"He's safe!" sobbed Lily.

"Lils, it's ok now. He's safe," James said, putting his arm around her.

"I know. Thank Merlin," she said softly, resting her head on his shoulder again.

**The smiling face of Albus Dumbledore swam into view above him.  
"Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore.**

"That's what e says?" laughed Tonks. "Harry's been through so much, and all he says is "Good afternoon"? What's with that?"

"Well, Dumbledore will always be Dumbledore," grinned Sirius.

**Harry stared at him. Then he remembered.**

"Bound to sooner or later."

**"Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! he's got the Stone! Sir, quick -"  
"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore.**

"Behind the time?" Lily said worriedly. "How long was he unconscious?"

"Relax. As long as he's alive and well!"

"Well? How do you know he's well?"

"It doesn't say anything about him being in pain, so I'm assuming he's well."

"oh."

**"Quirrell does not have the Stone."**

"YESSS!" they all cheered.

**"Then who does? Sir, I -"  
"Harry, please relax, or Madame Pomfrey will have me thrown out."**

"Hmm. I don't think she's ever thrown out Dumbledore," Sirius said thoughtfully.

"Would be interesting to see, though" Alice said.

"Yup. For sure," Severus nodded.

**Harry swallowed and looked around him. He realised he must be in the hospital wing.**

"Duh!" snorted Sirius. "Where else would he be?"

"Well, he's in shock now. It'll take him some time to get back to normal," James said, defending his son.

"But is normal good?" asked Sirius. "When normal is so much like Jimmy!"

"Hey! Knock it off!"

"Make me!"

"Fine," James shrugged, raising his wand and pointing it at Sirius' hair.

"No!" Sirius yelled, holding his hair in his hands. "Don't! I'll be quiet!"

"Good little Doggy."

**He was lying in a bed with white linen sheets and next to him was a table piled high with what looked like half the sweet-shop.**

"Niiice!" James grinned.

"No one brings us any sweets when we're in the hospital wing," Peter said.

"Well, we go there so much it would cost a fortune to buy some every time!" Remus laughed.

"Yeah, I guess."

**"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming.**

"Admirers?" Lily frowned. "Why has he got admirers?"

"Everyone must know about it, obviously," Sirius pointed out. "You think something that big could remain a secret for longer than three seconds in _Hogwarts?_"

Lily sighed.

**"What happened down in the dungeons between you and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret,**

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "What? How is that possible?"

"Just shut up and read!"

**so, naturally, the whole school knows.**

"That's more like it!" he grinned as everyone else laughed.

**I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a lavatory seat.**

They all burst out laughing again.

"They did it!" James roared. "I can't believe they did it!"

"Those guys are brilliant!" Sirius laughed. "Toilets! In the Hospital wing! Madam Pomfrey would have a FIT!"

"Ohh, their mom won't be happy!" grinned Remus, remembering the woman from the Station in the earlier chapters.

**No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madame Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygenic,**

Sirius snorted. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Minor setback! If they were Marauders, they wouldn't have given up!" said James.

"Yup. But they've got guts. Even we haven't done that," Sirius said, before adding, "yet."

"Should we do that?" asked Peter.

"We might just."

"I'd love to see the look on Madam Pomfrey's face when you do!" exclaimed Severus.

"You will. You can be there."

**and confiscated it."**

"Awwww."

"Darn shame, that," sighed Frank.

"That would've been cool to keep!"

**"How long have I been here?"  
"Three days.**

"THREE DAYS!" yelled Lily.

"Relax, Lily flower. He's fine now!"

"But three days! That's 72 hours, or 4320 minutes of his life that he will never get back!" Lily cried. "Never!"

"Now how the hell do you know how many minutes t here are in three days?" asked Sirius.

"I can do Arithmetic," Lily said simply.

"Well, I sure can't," Sirius snorted.

"Trust me, we all know that," James teased.

"Hey!"

**Mr Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you have come round, they have been extremely worried."**

"Oh, so they're safe too," grinned Sirius.

"Yup. We wouldn't want your unborn boyfriend to be in any danger, would we?" James smirked.

"STOP IT ALREADY!" Sirius thundered. "THE WHOLE SCHOOL ALREADY THINKS I'M GAY THANKS TO YOU– YOU DON'T HAVE TO RUB IT IN, POTTER!"

James grinned even more at that. "Oh, but I do, Paddy," he said seriously. "Otherwise what fun would it be?"

"You are the worst mate in the world, you know that?"

"Yup."

'Git."

"Puppy."

"Prat."

"Fleabag."

"Rotten piece of Flobberworm!"

"What?"

"You heard me!"

"You're insane."

"What's knew about that?" Remus interjected.

"Hah, good point," James snorted.

"Enough. Back to the book. Sirius, if you can't read without interrupting, I'm taking that book from you!" Lily said sternly.

"Nooo! I'll read! Look – picking up the book!" Sirius said. The others laughed.

**"But sir, the Stone -"  
"I see you are not to be distracted.**

"That's my boy!"

**Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you.**

"That's good," Peter said.

"Understatement of the century, but Ok," Frank grinned.

**I arrived in time to prevent that,**

"Knew it had to be him."

"Just read!"

**although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."**

"You bet he was!" James said with a great deal of pride. "He's the best! He was fighting a full grown adult! And Voldemort. And he lived! And he saved the Stone!"

"That's our son," beamed Lily.

"Well, to be fair – " began Severus.

"Who wants to be fair?" snorted James. "Harry's great and that's that."

"But he had that weird – " Remus tried.

"Ah ah ah! Harry's great and that's _that_!" James said stubbornly.

"Fine," sighed Remus, shaking his head.

"Good."

The others all laughed.

**"You got there? You got Hermione's owl?"**

**"We must have crossed in mid-air. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. **

"What did he say?" asked Peter.

"He said as soon as he reached London, he realized he should be at Hogwarts," Remus explained.

"Leave it to Dumbledore to make a simple thing sound damn complicated," sighed Sirius.

"It's not complicated. Only to you," Remus pointed out.

"And Wormtail!" Sirius said defensively.

"And Wormtail," conceded Remus.

"Hey!"

**I arrived just in time to pull Quirrell off you -"**

"It _was_ him!" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yes, we know. Just. Read!"

**"It was you."**

"Yup, just covered that."

"Shut up!"

"But then how do I read?"

"You know what we meant! Now just read and stop interrupting!" Lily scolded him.

"Just read!" repeated everyone else.

**"I feared I might be too late."**

"Nope. Right on time," Sirius grinned.

"But a bit earlier wouldn't have hurt!" James muttered.

**"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer -"**

"The Stone? What about him?" Sirius said in amazement. "This boy is amazing! He cares about stopping Voldemort more than himself!"

Lily and James beamed, but they weren't sure it was a good thing. He had to be safe, too!

"Thanks, Sirius, but stop interrupting!"

**"Not the Stone, boy, you - the effort involved nearly killed you.**

Lily gasped.

"What? It – He – nearly – no – dead – killed – effort – what?" she stuttered.

"You're making no sense, Lils," James laughed.

"Yeah, and that's weird," Tonks said. "Usually that's Jimmy."

"Stop calling me that!"

"Jimmy Jimmy Jimmy!" Tonks said defiantly.

"Argh! You're so immature!" James scowled.

"Look who's talking!" Tonks scoffed.

"You're both immature!" Sirius yelled.

They both turned to look at him.

"And then that would make you what? A baby?"

"Oh, haha, very funny. Can I get back to the book now?"

"By all means."

**For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had.**

"Don't even think that ever again!" Lily gasped.

**As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."**

"What?" frowned Peter.

"But won't Flamal – " began Alice.

"Yeah. Must be. Without the stone, they can't make the Elixir. No Elixir – No long life," Remus said solemnly.

"Wow. That's a big sacrifice," Frank gulped.

"Yeah," Severus nodded.

"Do it properly?" said Peter. "Do what properly?"

"Does that mean he meant for Harry to find out?" asked James, confused.

"No!" gasped Lily. "He's only a first year!"

"And what's wrong with that?" asked Tonks.

"Nothing!" Lily said quickly. "It's just … he barely knows any magic!"

**Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat and agreed it's all for the best."**

**"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"**

**"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."**

"Really big sacrifice," Alice whispered.

**Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry's face.  
"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle,**

"I still say that's a really weird name," Sirius interrupted.

"Weirder than .. erm … Draco Malfoy?" James asked. "Or Dudley Dursley?"

"Hmmm … good point." Sirius pondered on it a bit. "I suppose not. I mean, Dudley Dursley speaks for itself, and Draco Malfoy – well, that's Dragon Bad Faith!"

"Yeah," Severus shuddered.

**it really is like going to bed after a very, very long day.**

"A freaking six-hundred-year-long day!" exclaimed Sirius.

"Just – read!" everyone yelled at him.

"Sheesh! Fine! I'm reading!"

**After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure.**

"That's an interesting way to put it," said James, smiling. "So then when we die, Lils, we'll be goin' on a big adventure!"

Lily smiled sadly and nodded, and James kissed her on the lips.

They broke apart when Sirius yelled, "Get a room!" They were both blushing like mad after, and Severus was looking pointedly in the opposite direction, unlike everyone else.

**You know, the Stone was really not a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all - the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things which are worse for them."**

"Well, if I think about it, I'm good as long as I'm with Lily!" James grinned, hugging her with one arm. She smiled and rested her head on his shoulder.

**Harry lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling.  
"Sir?" said Harry. "I've been thinking ... Sir - even if the Stone's gone, Vol - ... I mean, You-Know-Who-"**

"Oh, say the name, Harry!" James urged. "Call him Voldemort." Peter tried his best not to flinch, but he did just a little.

**"Call him Voldemort, Harry.**

Peter flinched again.

**Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."**

"THAT'S WHAT I SAID!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly. "That means I said something smart! 'Cause Dumbledore said it too!"

The others laughed.

"Sirius, you only say that because you've heard _Dumbledore _say it!" Remus reminded him.

"Way to ruin it for me, Moony!" Sirius moaned. "Anyway, Pete, you've got to learn to say the name. Fear of a – Oh my God, I can't believe I forgot it AGAIN!"

This caused renewed peals of laughter.

**"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"**

They all sighed.

"I seriously doubt that," Remus sighed.

"Do you?" Sirius asked. "Sirius-ly?"

"Oh, shut up, Sirius. That's old."

**"No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share ... not being truly alive, he cannot be killed.**

Peter shuddered violently. "That's creepy!"

**He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time - and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."**

Lily smiled. "I like that train of thought."

"Train of thought?" asked Peter. "Are his thoughts called trains?"

"No, Pete." Chuckled Remus, "It's just a saying."

"Oh."

**Harry nodded, but stopped quickly, because it made his head hurt.**

Lily and James looked concerned.

"Is he alright?"

"What happened?"

"He's fine, guys," Sirius said, rolling his eyes.

"You'd be worried too if he was your kid!"

"Hey, he's my god – er, kid? – Anyway, he's my Godchild – I am worried! But I'm worried a reasonable amount. You're _too _worried! There's a difference!"

**Then he said, "Sir, there are some things I'd like to know, if you can tell me ... things I want to know that truth about ..."**

"This ought to be good," said Severus.

"Assuming he answers the questions," Tonks added.

**"The truth." Dumbledore sighed. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you forgive me.**

"His reasons are always good!"

**I shall not, of course, lie."**

"'Course not!"

**"Well ... Voldemort**

Peter put all his effort into not flinching.

"Good for you, Wormy!" grinned James.

Peter beamed.

**said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him killing me.**

Everyone's faces became sullen.

"I –this – "croaked James.

"Don't," whispered Lily sadly, closing her eyes."

**But why would he want to kill me in the first place?**

James' eyes widened with interest.

"Now that," he said, " is a very good question."

"Then let's hope he answers it!" Frank said.

**Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.**

"Argh! He's not gonna answer!" moaned Severus.

"How d'you know?" asked Tonks.

"He just sighed," sighed Severus.

"So?"

"Means he wants to tell, but he can't."

"Oh, I see mister expert at – er – expert at what?" asked Sirius. The others just laughed. Sirius moaned a bit more before continuing to read.

**"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you.**

"Damn," cursed Sirius. "He was right."

"I am an expert!" Severus grinned.

**Not today. Not now.**

"So he'll tell him later?" James said hopefully.

**You will know, one day ...**

"Yessss!"

**put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older ...**

"I hate that line!" groaned Tonks.

**I know you hate to hear this ... when you are ready, you will know."**

**And Harry knew it was no good to argue.**

"It never is when Dumbledore goes all serious."

**"But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?"**

"Ah, another good question," grinned James. "My son knows what to ask!"

**"Your mother died to save you.**

He immediately frowned. "What's that got to do with – "

"Just shush," Lily whispered to him, listening to Sirius.

**If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realise that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark**

Lily was amazed. "Re – really? What mark?" Then she gasped. "Not his scar!"

"No, that was from when he did the Av – from when he tried to ki – from …" but James couldn't manage to get out the words.

**Not a scar, no visible sign ... to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection for ever.**

"Wow. That's – that's – " Lily was, for perhaps the first time ever, at a loss for words.

**It is in your very skin.**

Lily and James smiled at each other.

**Quirrell, full of hatred, greed and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason.**

"So it's because of … because of me?" Lily said quietly. "I gave him a sort of protection?"

"Yeah," Remus smiled.

Lily beamed … but it was somehow also sad.

**It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."**

**Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the window-sill, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on the sheet.**

"He knows when to give someone a private second," grinned James.

**When he had found his voice again, Harry said, "And the Invisibility Cloak - do you know who sent it to me?"**

"Duh! Him!" Frank grinned.

**"Ah - your father happened to leave it in my possession and I thought you might like it."**

"I was wondering about that," James said. "Why'd I give it to him?"

"Who knows," Sirius shrugged. "Hey! Maybe you gave him the map too!"

"Yeah!" James exclaimed. "Then he should give it to … oh, wait. He'd never give it to Harry! It would be like telling him to get into trouble," he added with a sigh.

"But he gave him the cloak," Remus said hopefully. "That's pretty much just as bad!"

"Yeah!" James grinned happily. "Maybe he'll give it, but he's – he's I dunno, waiting 'till he's older or something! Yeah!"

"Yeah, that'll be it!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Brilliant!"

**Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things ... your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."**

The others laughed.

James looked insulted. "I do not only use it for that! We get up to way more stuff than that! And it's not just me!"

"Well, he doesn't know that, does he?" Sirius grinned.

"Oh yeah, we've only been caught going to that area, now that I think about it, because it's always harder to get back with all the food. Yeah, that'll explain it!" grinned James.

**"And there's something else ..."**

**"Fire away."**

**"Quirrell said Snape -"**

**"Professor Snape, Harry."**

Severus grinned. "I think I like the sound of that!"

**"Yes, him - Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father.**

Severus grimaced.

**Is that true?"**

"Unfortunately, it is. Was. Is. I don't know anymore!" Sirius said exasperatedly.

Everyone had a few more laughs at Sirius' expense before they went back to the book.

**"Well, they did rather detest each other.**

"Understatement, really," James said.

**Not unlike yourself and Mr. Malfoy.**.

"Hey, that's different! Potters have hated Malfoys for generations! My dad hated Abraxas, or whatever his name was, just as much as I hate Lucius!" James said.

**And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."**

"What'd I do?" James asked, not sure himself. "Tell everyone to call him Snivellus? Embarrass him like crazy? Show everyone his underwear? Make that pile of hippogriff dung follow his head?"

Severus had been getting increasingly red, but at this point, he interrupted.

"That was you? Argh! That was so annoying!"

James grinned sheepishly. "Yeah. Sorry about that."

**"What?"  
"He saved his life."**

"I did _what_?" James burst out, just as Severus said, "He did _what_?"

"When was this?" asked a bewildered Sirius.

"I dunno," James said in shock. "I guess we're about to find out."

**"What?"  
"Yes ..." said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt ... I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father quits.**

Severus pondered that thought for a moment.

"That must've been that time when you almost let me passed the Whomping Willow," he said slowly.

"Oh, yeah," James said, equally slowly.

"Oh, that was hardly saving my life! You got me in there in the first place!"

"Did not! It was all Sirius! I didn't even know about it! When I found out, I stopped you!" James exclaimed angrily.

Sirius was looking at the ground sheepishly.

"Paddy, isn't there something you'd like to say to Severus?" James said in a mother-like tone.

"No," muttered Sirius.

"Paddy!"

"Fine. Sorry, Severus."

Severus tried hard not to laugh.

"It – it's alright," he said.

**Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace ..."**

They all laughed at that.

**Harry tried to understand this but it made his head pound, so he stopped.**

"Definitely got James' brains, then," Frank confirmed.

**"And, sir, there's one more thing ..."**

**"Just the one?"**

**"How did I get the Stone out of the Mirror?"**

"Ah. Now that is the most important question of all!"

**"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas,**

"So modest."

**and between you and me, that's saying something.**

"Really, really modest."

**You see, only one who wanted to find the Stone - find it, but not use it - would be able to get it,**

"HAH! I was right! I knew it!" exclaimed Tonks. "And you said my idea was stupid!"

"Did not," said James and Sirius at once.

"Yes, you did! Both of you!"

**otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life.**

**My brain surprises even me sometimes ...**

They all chuckled a bit.

**Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit flavoured one,**

"Urgh," shuddered Peter. "I'm never eating those again!"

"Really?" James asked disbelievingly.

"Well," said Peter, thinking it over, "just not ones that I don't know the flavor of."

**and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them - but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"  
He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth.**

James began cracking up.

"What?" asked Frank.

"That – that's Earwax flavor!" he laughed.

**Then he choked and said, "Alas! Earwax!"**

They all laughed.

"I told you! I've had that at least ten times!"

"Why would you eat it again and again?" asked Tonks.

"Dares," James said simply.

**"Absolutely not."  
"You let Professor Dumbledore in ..."  
"Well, of course, that was the Headmaster, quite different.**

"Oooh, who wants to see Harry?" asked Sirius.

"Probably Ron and Hermione."

**You need rest."**

**"I am resting, look, lying down and everything.**

They laughed some more.

**Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey ..."**

**"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes only."**

"She always caves if you ask nice enough," James grinned.

**And she let Ron and Hermione in.  
"Harry!"**

**Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around him again,**

"Again? When did she – oh yeah! Never mind," Sirius said.

**but Harry was glad she held herself in as his head was still very sore.**

"Poor Harry!" Lily sighed.

**"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to - Dumbledore was so worried -"**

**"The whole school's talking about it,"**

"Well, of course they are!" exclaimed Frank.

"This is big news!" Sirius cried.

"Huge news!" James said.

"Giant news!"

"Humungous!"

"Enormous!"

"Colos-"

"We get it!" Lily said irritably. "Back to the book."

**said Ron. "What really happened?"**

"What didn't happen?" Sirius sighed.

**It was one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumours.**

They all grinned.

"It's almost always like that with our stories!" Sirius exclaimed.

"That's 'cause we do strange things," grinned James.

**Harry told them everything; Quirrell; the Mirror; the Stone and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places and, when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud.**

"The perfect audience makes the perfect story even better!" James breathed.

"Excuse me? The perfect story? This is definitely _not_ the perfect story!" Lily yelled.

James gulped and looked at the ground sheepishly.

**"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to die?"**

"That's what Harry said!" laughed James.

**"That's what I said,**

James grinned.

**but Dumbledore thinks that - what was it? - 'to the well organised mind, death is but the next great adventure'."**

**"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron,**

They all laughed.

"He knows how to make a decent joke," Sirius said approvingly.

"Is that why you love him so much?" James asked in a serious voice.

"Y – NO! Prongs!"

But the others were already laughing.

"What is it? First the Weasley twins, then Peeves, then Hagrid, then Severus and now Ron?" James laughed. "My, my, we are a little promiscuous!"

"A little what?" frowned Sirius, though he knew it couldn't be anything good.

"Promiscuous. And if you don't know what that is, look it up in the dictionary!" James smirked.

"What dictionary?"

"This one," James said, flicking his wand. A heavy-looking book fell into Sirius' lap.

"Ahh! Prongs! That hurt!"

"It was meant to," James assured him.

"Go ahead, find it," Severus urged, wanting to see the expression on Sirius' face. The others were trying to contain their laughter.

"Promiscuous. How d'you spell that? P – E – R - ?"

"No!" James sighed. This was taking too long. "P-R-O-M-I-S-C-U-O-U-S"

"That's a bloody annoying spelling. Couldn't you have chosen a smaller word?" Sirius asked irritably.

"Now what fun would that be?"

"P – Promiscuous!" Sirius said victoriously after finally finding the page. "HEY!" he yelled furiously at James, who fell about laughing. As did the other Sixth years. Only Tonks was left confused.

"What does it mean?" she asked eagerly.

"Er – No need for you to know! Wait another three or four years before finding out!" Remus said quickly, before Sirius or James could answer.

Tonks scowled at him. "Why do you all keep saying that?" she asked angrily.

"Because you're too young," Alice said simply.

"I am not! Harry's my age and he fought Voldemort!" Tonks yelled stubbornly.

"Yes! And he shouldn't have done that!" Lily cried out.

"Look, you don't need to know. End of – hey!" Sirius cried out in shock as Tonks grabed for the dictionary.

"Like you could take it from us and we'd just let you read it!" Remus laughed, easily snatching the book from her.

"Alright. Back to the book now."

**looking quite impressed at how mad his hero was.**

**"So what happened to you two?" said Harry.**

"That's another very good question."

**"Well I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round - that took a while - and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the Entrance Hall. He already knew - he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."**

"So he did expect Harry to go!" James exclaimed.

"Obviously."

**"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your father's Cloak and everything?"**

"Yeah! For sure!" Frank nodded.

"Probably," Peter said.

**"Well," Hermione exploded,**

"This should be interesting," Severus grinned.

**"if he did - I mean to say - that's terrible - you could have been killed."**

"My point exactly!" Lily exclaimed.

"Oh no! Lily's like Hermione!" James said, horrified.

**"No, it isn't," said Harry thoughtfully. "He's a funny man, Dumbledore. I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know.**

"Yeah, he does," Sirius nodded wisely.

**I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help. I don't think it was an accident he let me find out how the Mirror worked.**

"Let him find out?" Peter frowned. "I thought you said he found it while hiding from Filch!"

"Oh, yeah, he did. But – I guess we forgot this too – Dumbledore was watching him, apparently. He was there, invisible, the whole time, and he didn't stop Harry," explained James.

**It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could ..."**

"Even Dumbledore thinks Harry can face Voldemort!" James said proudly. Lily, on the other hand, looked down right pissed.

"How could he – he's only a First year – dangerous – He's the headmaster – He's a first year! – Voldemort – Three first years! – what right? – stupid ideas – dangerous!" Lily rambled angrily.

James smiled at her. "Lils, I think it's safe to say that Dumbledore knows more than you," he grinned. Lily smiled sheepishly. James continued, "If he thinks Harry was capable of it, who are we to question him? And besides, Harry did it! He's still alive, and Voldemort isn't back!"

Lily smiled and nodded.

"I didn't flinch once!" Peter announced happily.

"Er – oh yeah. Good for you, Pete," James said slowly.

**"Yeah, Dumbledore's barking, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow.**

"That's the best feast!" Peter exclaimed.

"Except for the Start of Term Feast," Sirius added.

"And Christmas, if you stay here," James said.

"Damn," James swore.

**of course - you missed the last Quidditch match,**

James made a choking noise. "He – missed – Quidditch!" he croaked.

"Relax, Jimmy. It's not the end of the world," Severus laughed.

James scowled.

"It's not that big a deal," Lily sighed.

"Not that big a deal?" James asked incredulously. "Don't ever say that in front of me again! No – don't ever say that – in front of me or not! Quidditch – is – always – a – big – deal! And we lost! Slytherin won! Er – no offense, Severus."

"None taken."

**we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you -**

"Ohhh … and they're not even that good!" James exclaimed.

"Jimmy, they're only not good right now. In the future they may be better," Tonks pointed out.

"Whatever. They're all just big brains. They don't do Quidditch. That's not how they are. That's why they almost always come third or fourth," explained James.

**- but the food'll be good."**

"Always is," Peter breathed.

**At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.  
"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT!" she said firmly.**

**After a good night's sleep, Harry felt nearly back to normal.**

"That's good," said Lily.

**"I want to go to the feast," he told Madam Pomfrey as she straightened his many sweet-boxes. "I can, can't I?**

"He has to go!" exclaimed James immediately. "He can't not go to his first End of Year Feast!"

**"Professor Dumbledore says you are allowed to go," she said sniffily,**

"Thank Merlin," he breathed.

"Hah, that means she doesn't agree," Sirius laughed.

"Why? What does she think'll happen at the feast?" scoffed Alice. "Someone will spill Pumpkin juice on him at the most!"

**as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realise how risky feasts could be. "And you have another visitor."**

"Sweet. Visitors are cool."

**"Oh good," said Harry. "Who is it?"**

**Hagrid sidled through the door as he spoke. As usual when he was indoors, Hagrid looked too big to be allowed. He sat down next to Harry, took one look at him and burst into tears.**

"Awwww," Alice cooed.

"He's so sweet," Lily smiled.

"Probably 'cause he must blame himself a bit," James said.

**"It's - all - my - ruddy - fault!" he sobbed,**

"You see?"

"James!" Lily scolded him. "How could you say that?"

"I'm not saying it's his fault! I'm just saying that's what he would think!" James defended himself. "This is Voldemort we're talking about! He'd have found out somehow, even if Hagrid hadn't told him!"

"Exactly!" Lily huffed.

**his face in his hands. "I told the evil git how ter get past Fluffy! I told him! It was the only thing he didn't know an' I told him!**

"Aw, come on, Hagrid!" Sirius said. "It's not your fault! He got you drunk and offered you a dragon!"

**Yeh could've died!**

"Nah. It'd take more than Voldemort to kill a Potter!" Sirius laughed.

"My words exactly!" James grinned.

**All fer a dragon egg! I'll never drink again!**

The boys snorted.

"Like that's gonna happen," said Sirius disbelievingly.

**I should be chucked out an' made ter live as a Muggle!"**

"That's a bit too harsh, Hagrid!" James complained.

**"Hagrid!" said Harry, shocked to see Hagrid shaking with grief and remorse, great tears leaking down into his beard.**

**"Hagrid, he'd have found out somehow, this is Voldemort we're talking about, he'd have found out even if you hadn't told him."**

"My word exactly!" James grinned.

**"Yeh could've died! sobbed Hagrid. "An' don' say the name!"**

**"VOLDEMORT!" Harry bellowed,**

And so did Sirius, causing Peter to jump in fright.

"D – don't do that again, Padfoot!" Peter shuddered.

Sirius laughed.

"I thought you were over the whole flinching-at-his-name thing!"

"Guess not," Peter replied quietly.

**and Hagrid was so shocked, he stopped crying.**

**"I've met him and I'm calling him by his name.**

"Atta boy, Harry!"

**Please cheer up, Hagrid, we saved the Stone, it's gone, he can't use it. Have a Chocolate Frog, I've got loads ..."**

**Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and said, "That reminds me. I've got yeh a present."**

"That's nice of Hagrid," said Lily.

**"It's not a stoat sandwich, is it?" said Harry anxiously**

They all chuckled.

**and at last Hagrid gave a weak chuckle.**

**"'Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off yesterday ter fix it. 'Course, he shoulda sacked me instead - **

"He'd never!"

"Not in a million years!" Sirius said. "If they live to be that old. Which they won't, now that the Stone is gone."

"Shut up."

**anyway, got yeh this ..."**

**It seemed to be a handsome, leather-covered book.**

"A book?" James asked incredulously. "Does he honestly think Harry wants to read right now?"

"Some people like to read!" Lily said irritably.

"God, you're sounding more and more like Hermione, Lils!" James shuddered. "This book isn't doing you any good!"

**Harry opened it curiously. It was full of wizard photographs. Smiling and waving at him from every page were his mother and father.**

Lily and James beamed, yet somehow … they looked sad. Sad, yet happy.

"That's – that's wonderful," choked James, fighting back tears.

"So thoughtful!" Lily sniffed.

**"Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends,**

"Does that mean all of us?" Sirius said excitedly.

"Yes! It must! We're their school friends!" Alice exclaimed.

"Let's hope so!" Remus said.

"Way to bring down the mood," Sirius muttered.

**askin' fer photos ...**

**Knew yeh didn' have any ... D'yeh like it?"  
Harry couldn't speak, but Hagrid understood.**

"We should thank him for that," James smiled.

Oh, sure!" Sirius said sarcastically. "Let's just go up to Hagrid and thank him for giving your son a photo album twenty years from now!"

"Oh. I see your point," James sighed. "Well, we could give him some photos!"

"Yeah. We should do that," Lily smiled.

"But won't that be weird? Who gives someone photos for no reason?" asked Severus.

"There is a reason! To let my son see them!" exclaimed James.

"But Hagrid doesn't know that!"

"So? He'll keep them!"

**Harry made his way down to the end-of-year feast alone that night. He had been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing-about, insisting on giving him one last check-up,**

"Typical Madam Pomfrey Thoiugh she doesn't do that with us anymore. Just the beginning of First year, really."

**so the Great Hall was already full. It was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver**

Sirius mimed vomiting, before looking at Severus and apologizing.

**to celebrate Slytherin's winning the House Cup for the seventh year in a row.**

James groaned. "Gryffindor has to win at least once in all of Harry's years at Hogwarts!"

"We will, don't worry. Especially since he's on the team," grinned Sirius.

**A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.**

**When Harry walked in there was a sudden hush and then everybody started talking loudly at once.**

"That has got to be embarrassing," Alice shuddered. "I'd hate to have to go through that!"

**He slipped into a seat between Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at him.**

"That can't be easy. Eh, Paddy?" James added, looking at the still-green Sirius.

Sirius made a face at him.

**Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later. The babble died away.**

**"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are a little fuller than they were ... you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before the next year starts ...**

"Ah, he always says something like that!" James laughed.

"And our heads always go empty," grinned Sirius.

**"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding and the points stand thus: in fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points;**

"That's disgraceful!" James yelled. "Even when we lost a hundred and fifty points it wasn't that bad! We were still in the four hundreds! And third!"

**in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw have four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."**

Everyone looked grim. Even Severus, for some reason.

**A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Harry could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.**

**"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, **

"However?" James said hopefully.

**recent events must be taken into account."**

"YES! Please tell me he's going to award a bunch of point to Harry for bravery or something!"

**The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.**

James smirked a bit, but stopped when Lily turned to glare at him.

**The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.  
"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out.**

"Oh, please, please, please!"

**Let me see. Yes ...  
"First - to Mr Ronald Weasley ..."**

"Ron?" frowned Sirius. "Why?"

"Who cares?" yelled James. "It's Gryffindor! Let's hope it's a lot!"

**Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with bad sunburn.**

**"... for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years,**

They laughed and cheered.

**I award Gryffindor house fifty points."**

"Yes!"

**Gryffindor cheers nearly reached the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver.**

They grinned.

"We've done that a few times," James smiled.

**Percy could be heard telling the other Prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"**

They all snickered.

**At last there was silence again.  
"Second - to Miss Hermione Granger ... **

"YEESSSSS! ANOTHER GRYFFINDOR!"

**for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor house fifty points."**

There were more cheers.

"Weird reason, though," Peter said.

"Who cares?" James said again. "It's still fifty more points to Gryffindor!"

**Hermione buried her face in her arms; Harry strongly suspected she had burst into tears.**

Sirius and James shared a look that plainly said,_ "girls!"_

**Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves - they were a hundred points up.**

"YEAH BABY!" roared Sirius. "Go Gryffindor!"

Everyone stood up anxiously, waiting.

**"Third - to Mr. Harry Potter ..."**

"YES!" yelled James so loud that Lily thought she might be going deaf.

**said Dumbledore. "... for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor house sixty points."**

"YEAH!" they all thundered. Well, except Severus, who was cheering slightly just because everyone else was.

"GRYFFINDOR IS TIED WITH SLYTHERIN!" roared Remus and Frank at the same time.

"They are? Sirius asked excitedly.

"Yes, you dope!"

"YESSSS! GOOOOOOOOOO GRYFINDOOOOOOOOOR!"

**The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points - exactly the same as Slytherin.**

"Argh! Why couldn't Dumbledore have given them just one more damn point?" Sirius moaned.

**They had drawn for the House Cup - if only Dumbledore had given Harry just one more point.**

"Exactly! Just give them one more! They deserve it!"

**Dumbledore raised his hand.**

"He's gonna give more! He has to!" exclaimed James.

**The room gradually fell silent.**

The Room of Requirement was also unnaturally silent, considering the occupants. But everyone was listening intently to Sirius reading, waiting for the next points to be awarded.

**"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points**

They all (except Sirius) held their breath.

**to Mr. Neville Longbottom."**

The Room erupted with deafening cheers.

"That's my son! That's our son!" yelled Alice and Frank happily, jumping up and down with the rest of them. Even Severus seemed happy in all the euphoria going around.

**Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table.**

They were all barely listening to Sirius anymore, but Lily wanted to hear, so she sent out a loud bang from her wand, and they quieted down.

"Let's listen to the rest of it, shall we?"

"Fine. We'll finish cheering later," James shrugged, sitting back down with Lily. The others sat down too.

**Harry, Ron and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer and Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him.**

Frank and Alice beamed.

**He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before.**

Now they were frowning.

"Why not? He can't be that bad at school!"

**Harry, still cheering, nudged Ron in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy,**

"HAH! LOOOOOSER!" screamed James.

"His reaction ought to be good," grinned Tonks.

**who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind curse put on him.**

They all laughed.

**"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, **

They grinned.

"I guess everyone hated Slytherin. Sorry, Sev," James shrugged.

"Doesn't matter. I'm not much of a fan of some of the Slytherins either."

"Well, perfect, then."

**"we need a little change of decoration."**

**He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold;**

"YEAH!" roared Sirius.

"THE BEST COLOURS IN THE WORLD!" thundered James.

"James, please, I'm sitting right beside you!" Lily said, rubbing her ears.

"Oops. Sorry, Lily flower!"

**the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, **

"Thank God I'm being graceful about it," muttered Severus.

**with a horrible forced smile.**

"Well, there goes that out the window," he sighed.

**He caught Harry's eye and harry knew at once that Snape's feelings towards him hadn't changed one jot.**

"Well, don't worry. They have now," Severus shrugged.

"So what? Did we change the future already?"asked Peter. "Because Severus doesn't hate Harry."

"That's a good point," Remus said thoughtfully. "You know, I think we have."

**This didn't worry Harry. It seemed as though life would be back to normal next year,**

"Not a chance," grinned James.

"What fun would normal be?" laughed Sirius.

"We'd be nothing in a normal world!"

**or as normal as it ever was at Hogwarts.**

**It was the best evening of Harry's life, better than winning at Quidditch or Christmas or knocking out mountain trolls ... **

James smirked at the memory of the chapter.

**he would never, ever forget tonight.**

"It's a damn good memory to keep," James exclaimed.

**Harry had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To their great surprise, both he and Ron passed with good marks;**

Lily beamed.

"Woohooo!" James cried. "I knew he had my brains!"

"Hah! Then how'd he pass?"

"Shut up, Padfoot!"

**Hermione, of course, came top of the year.**

"No real shock there," snorted Sirius.

**Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one.**

"He's got my Herbology skills," said Alice sarcastically. They all knew how bad she was at it.

**They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out,**

"No. Otherwise Crabbe and Goyle senior would've been chucked out too First year," sighed Sirius.

**but he had passed, too.**

"What a shame," said James.

**It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.**

They all smiled.

**And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets;**

"Hah."

**notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays (I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly);**

James grinned. "I can't wait 'till I'm 17! Then I can do all the magic I want! Just a few months!"

"A few?" scoffed Sirius. "You've got half a year left before you're 17!"

**Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the country-side became greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross Station.**

"Aww. Now he has to go back to those damn Dursleys," moaned James.

"Well, they'll be less mean to him now that he knows he's a wizard," James said.

"Hopefully," added Lily.

**It took a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.**

"That would be funny. We should do that!" Sirius said.

"No way! That would be breaking about a zillion of our laws!"

"oh, right. Damn."

**"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "both of you - I'll send you an owl."**

"Thank god. This way he can get away from the Dursleys as soon as possible!" James said, relieved.

**"Thanks," said Harry. "I'll need something to look forward to."**

**People jostled them as they moved forwards towards the gate-way back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:  
"Bye, Harry!"  
"See you, Potter!"**

"Nice that he has so many friends," Lily smiled.

"Not friends, Lils, admirers," James joked.

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Well, he needs those! Look where he's about to go for Summer!"

**"Still famous," said Ron grinning at him.**

**"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.**

They all groaned.

**He, Ron and Hermione passed through the gateway together.**

**"There he is, Mum, there he is, look!"**

**It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.**

"She'll be pointing at Harry, obviously," James grinned.

**"Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mum! I can see -"**

**"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point."**

**Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them.**

**"Busy year?" she said.**

**"Very," said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the jumper, Mrs. Weasley."**

"Good, he didn't forget his manners," Lily smiled proudly.

**"Oh, it was nothing, dear."**

Sirius snorted.

"It's a heck of a lot more than anything those greedy Dursleys gave them!" Tonks said bitterly.

**"Ready, are you?"**

**It was Uncle Vernon, still purple-faced, still mustached, still looking furious at the nerve of Harry, carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary people.**

"Why that great big lump of fat! I'm going to kill him if he's rude to Harry!"

**Behind him stood Aunt Petunia and Dudley, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry.**

James grinned.

"It'll be better that way, probably," he smirked.

**"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs Weasley.**

"Well, this should be … interesting," said Alice uncertainly.

"They'd better not be rude!" Lily scowled.

**"In a manner of speaking," said Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away.**

"He was!" Lily yelled. "Let's go murder him during the Christmas break!"

"Definitely!" James said excitedly. "No, we'll just have to wait 'till March, when I turn seventeen. Maybe over the Summer, instead?"

"Done!"

**Harry hung back for a last word with Ron and Hermione.**

**"See you over the summer, then."**

**"Hope you have - er - a good holiday," said Hermione,**

Sirius snorted.

"Yeah right."

"Nothing good about where he's headed," sighed Peter.

"Only annoying fat cousins and weird, long-necked aunts," Frank sighed.

**looking uncertainly after Uncle Vernon, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.**

"If anyone can, it's the Dursleys," Remus said, shaking his head.

**"Oh, I will," said Harry, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face.**

"What's he got to grin about?" Tonks asked curiously.

**"They don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home.**

"That's brilliant! Inspired! Pure genius!" James exclaimed happily.

"Relax, Prongsie."

**I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer ..."**

They all snickered and laughed a bit.

"Well," Sirius said sadly, "that's the end of the book."

"Nooooo!" moaned Tonks.

"But – there –I – six more years- There's got to be more books!" James cried desperately. "I want to know more about my son!"

"Yeah!" Frank exclaimed. "There must be more books!"

"Back at the divination section of the library?" suggested Lily.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Alice. "Let's all go there now and look for it!"

"But we only just finished this one! It might not even be there!" Lily said, shocked.

"What? You don't want to find out more about Harry's years at Hogwarts?" James asked, both angry and shocked.

"Of – of course I do! I'm just saying … we should take a bit of a break. We need to have some time to study and finish off all of our homework, which I'm sure none of you boys have even looked at all weekend!" Lily said, suddenly in her stern mode.

"N – no," the boys all said.

"Remus, Severus," Lily cried, " I'm shocked at you two! I expect it from these two logs, but you?"

"Well … the book … we were … you know," Remus said sheepishly.

"Well, we all have to finish our work. The next book will have to wait until next weekend, if it even exists!"

"Awww … come on, Lils! We can study and finish our homework any old time! During breakfast!"

"No! And we can read any time too!" Lily retorted.

"But – but – but," James said, desperately trying to make up an excuse. "But what if someone else finds the book first and takes it out of the library?"

"James! You know that won't happen! Just be patient!"

"But we don't want to!" moaned Tonks. "And I don't even have to! I'm only in First year!"

"I thought you hated it when people said that!" James said bitterly.

"Not when it benefits me!"

"Tonks, I guess you can read. If you want to. Without any of us. On your own. But it will be boring …" Lily said.

Tonks frowned, sighed, and gave in.

"So, next weekend."

"Fine," they all grumbled, and made their way out of the Room slowly.

**A/N: Finally … the first book is finished!! The last chappie was 58 PAGES ON WORD!! Is that the longest yet?  
You guys have been amazing with all your reviews and whatnot. I've reached 424 reviews! I love you all soooooo much right now! This is so great! I want to thank everyone who R&R-ed the fic.I had loads of fun writing it, and I hope you enjoyed reading it!**

**And, for the last time, for who knows how long, R-E-V-I-E-W!!  
I don't know when I'll be back with the next book, or if I will at all, but I will try my best. **

**Until then, stay cool, keep reading,  
Zeinab**


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